ACT government procurement processes need to be strengthened: report

The chair of the committee, Mrs Elizabeth Kikkert, led the inquiry into the Auditor-General's report finding the government should mandate that every procurement includes value for money assessments and a signed declaration of conflict of interest. Nine recommendations were made in the report.

The committee found that all 33 of the procurements considered by the Audit Office did not include signed declaration.

"The committee considers that a declaration of a conflict of interest should be a mandatory part of any procurement process, even if it is a low-value, low-risk procurement," the report stated.

Another recommendation put a deadline on the ACT government to put in place assurance schemes across its directorates with Procurement ACT by December 2022.

This included monitoring the effectiveness of procurement reforms and annually reporting on adherence to probity and ethical considerations across tender processes.

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"It is the view of the committee that the ACT government should implement management action for staff who breach the procurement framework when conducting any procurement, but in particular those worth above $200,000," the report stated.

The report is in response to recommendations from the Auditor-General Michael Harris' report in June 2021 looking into procurement exemptions and value for money. There were four recommendations including integrity in procurement and whole of life costs policy.

Mrs Kikkert said the committee "endorses all the Auditor-General's recommendations" from last year's report.

"We also thank those who contributed to the committee's inquiry, including the Auditor-General and staff from the ACT Audit Office, the Special Minister of State and Procurement ACT," she said.

The latest report in the ACT government's procurement processes comes after the Canberra Institute of Technology had been asked to explain almost $5 million paid to a "complexity and systems thinker".

The CIT board has said it cannot provide an assurance that the $4.99 million contract is value for money as the ACT government remains "largely unsatisfied" with the response.