Details of ACT government contracts worth more than $12,500 would be reported in a public register, as well as all the government's ex gratia payments, under an Opposition bill introduced on Wednesday.
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Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe introduced change to government procurement laws to lower the reporting threshold for the existing notifiable invoices register, so more contracts could be publicly scrutinised.
That register currently records all invoices worth over $25,000 and was set up after an Opposition proposal two years ago, to which the government and the Greens agreed at the time.
The bill, if passed as introduced, would also see the government create a central public register of all its 'Act of Grace' payments.
Such payments are made to people adversely affected by government decisions or policies, where the government decides to make a payment, despite not legally being required to do so.
Figures provided by the government show it has spent just over $3 million in such payments in the past decade, ranging from five payments totalling $11,213 in five payments in 2006-07 to $903,000 paid out in 11 payments in 2013-14.
Mr Coe said he believed the changes were needed because there were "serious issues with regard to complacency" and a "born to rule mentality" in the territory executive.
":Anything that the Opposition can do to bring greater transparency to government expenditure is going to lead to better outcomes for taxpayers," he said.
Mr Coe said the register of ex gratia payments was needed due to a lack of transparency, but that such a register should not identify those receiving such payments.
But Chief Minister Andrew Barr's spokesman said that "dollar-for-dollar, no government in Australia has its spending as thoroughly scrutinised" as the ACT.
He said the government was open to more transparency measures, if they were "practically implementable" and would provide "meaningful information about the workings of government".
ACT Greens integrity spokeswoman Caroline Le Couteur said the Opposition's proposals had merit and were "worthy of consideration", but the Greens were concerned about maintaining privacy protections for recipients of ex gratia payments.
The bill is yet to be debated.
