Senior public servants have been accused of misleading a parliamentary committee over a contract which a department head concedes "wasn't well handled" and could be in breach of Commonwealth procurement rules.
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Labor's finance and public service spokeswoman Katy Gallagher is considering referring officials to parliament's privileges committee amid claims they weren't "upfront" in evidence relating to a contract to review a disability employment program.
In explosive claims levelled in Senate estimates on Thursday morning, senator Gallagher named Nathan Williamson, a former Department of Social Services official who is now a deputy secretary at the Department of Finance, as one of the officers who had "misled" the committee over the past 15 months.
"It does look to me that the committee has been misled on a number of times, through my questioning and through misleading questions on notice," she said.
The allegations relate to a $1.6 million contract awarded Boston Consulting Group for a review into disability employment services.
The work ended up costing about $3.3 million and included a research component which wasn't part of the tender.
At the last round of estimates hearings Senator Gallagher asked new Department of Social Services secretary Ray Griggs to examine the contract, which she said "looks dodgy to me".
Mr Griggs told Thursday's hearing that a desktop review of the contract found there had been "non compliance" with internal processes and "less than better practice" with Commonwealth procurement rules.
"It's clear that it wasn't well handled," he said.
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In a letter to Senator Gallagher earlier this week, Mr Griggs said his review had also identified problems with documentation and record keeping.
As Mr Griggs wasn't at the department when the contract was awarded or extended, and some of the key officers involved have since left, the new secretary has offered the individuals a chance to tell their side of the story.
Mr Griggs on Thursday confirmed Mr Williamson was one of those officials.
But he declined to elaborate further on his findings until he had finalised his review. He hoped that would be completed in the "next few weeks".
However, Mr Griggs did confirm he was investigating potential breaches of Commonwealth procurement rules.
Mr Williamson has been with the Department of Finance since November 2020.
Kathryn Campbell, who was the department secretary at the time, was not accused of wrongdoing. Ms Campbell is now the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mr Griggs said the department's procurement rules had now been tightened, including a requirement that consultancy contracts worth more than $1 million required his sign off. The department's senior executives staff have also been put through a refresher course on procurement, with the particular focus on contracting consultants.
Mr Griggs confirmed evidence to the committees would be corrected if it needed to be.
Social Services Minister Anne Ruston told the hearing that said she didn't believe that an official would intentionally mislead the committee.
She said Mr Griggs was taking the appropriate step of conducting a "detailed and comprehensive investigation".
The Canberra Times contacted the finance and social services departments and the ministers responsible for further comment, but was referred to Mr Griggs's evidence to the committee and letter to Senator Gallagher.
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