Every public sector entity does procurement.
It’s a significant corruption risk as entities must make decisions about purchasing and selecting suppliers.
Your board must ensure your entity:
Your board should determine what procurement reports it needs to receive, based on the scale and risk of the procurement activity.
At a minimum, your entity’s procurement policies must ensure that it:
Your board must ensure your entity has a policy for employees and board directors on how to identify, declare and manage conflicts of interest.
Your board needs to regularly include procurement in its internal audits.
Link the frequency of internal audits to the level of risk in your entity’s activities.
Use these audits to:
Your board needs to be familiar with the procurement policies and ensure your entity follows these where relevant.
This includes:
The policy frameworks for goods and services and construction works and services say that entities must base their procurement on 4 principles. These are:
Other applicable procurement policies and commitments include:
| The asset is | Which supports entities to |
|---|---|
| Investment lifecycle and High Value/High Risk Guidelines | Develop investment projects in Victoria. |
| Investment Management Standard | Direct their resources and achieve the best outcomes for investments. |
| Public Private Partnerships Policy | Develop contracts through public-private partnerships. |
| Market-led Proposals Guideline | Manage infrastructure and service proposals from the private sector. |
| Gateway Review Process | Examine projects at 6 key decision points in their lifecycle. |
| Local Jobs First policy | Support Victorian businesses and workers. |
| Social Procurement Framework | Meet Victoria’s approach to social procurement. |
| Supplier Code of Conduct | Ensure services are provided by suppliers that meet a set of minimum ethical standards. |
| ICT Procurement Policy and Standards | Understand Victoria’s approach to IT procurement. |
| Shared service provider engagements | Understand how to engage internal service providers such as for IT support or facilities management. |
| International free trade agreements | Meet obligations under Australia’s free trade agreements with other countries. |
| Building Equality policy | Create training and employment opportunities for women in construction. |
The policies outline the requirements for the procurement of goods and services for all departments and some entities.
Go to the Buying for Victoria website to check if the policies apply to your entity.
If the policies don’t apply to your entity, it’s still a good idea to align with the goods and services policies.
This is because their policies are best practice for the public sector.
Departments and mandated entities must establish procurement frameworks that comply with the goods and services policies. Staff procure goods and services using their entity’s framework.
The goods and services policies are supported by guidance, tools, and templates that may be adopted by entities. All staff may access these resources to complement their entity’s framework.
View the goods and services policies and the supporting documents at Buying for Victoria.
Use the VGPB’s procurement checklist to see how aligned your entity is to their goods and services framework.
This may help your board assess your entity’s capability and identify any areas for improvement.
The Ministerial Directions and Instructions for Public Construction set out the framework for procuring:
Go to the Buying for Victoria to check if these directions apply to your entity.
If the directions apply to your entity, you need to ensure your entity complies with them when procuring construction works and services.