Auditor General finds efficiency lacking

An Auditor General's report into the efficiency of government departments' procurement processes has found that just two of nine departments assessed complied with four principles of best practice.

State Auditor General Colin Murphy's report tabled in Parliament today found less than half of the agencies assessed managed procurement strategically.

The report assessed nine government agencies against four key principles of good procurement practice: open and effective competition, strategic management of procurement, good probity and accountability controls, and public reporting of all awarded contracts valued at over $20,000.

Just two agencies, the Departments of Water and State Development, consistently complied with all four principles.

Five agencies complied with some of the principles consistently, while two agencies did not comply with any of the principals on a consistent basis.

Mr Murphy said billions of dollars are spent each year on procurement of goods and services.

"It is important agencies ensure their procurements result in value for money and fair access for suppliers," Mr Murphy said.
"Good procurement practices also reduce the likelihood of fraud and misconduct."

The report said agencies failed to consistently source appropriate quotes for services, did not identify and manage conflicts of interest appropriately and kept records poorly.

"One of the fundamental ways of ensuring transparency of decision-making is through public reporting and yet five agencies failed to publically report on all their procurement contracts over $20 000," Mr Murphy said.

The second part of the report examined the effectiveness of the state government's Priority Start building policy in growing employment opportunities for apprentices and trainees in construction.

The policy requires builders who win government contracts with a labour component of more than $300,00 to provide opportunities for apprentices and trainees.

Mr Murphy said the policy is not fully applied and a lack of oversight by the Department of Training and Workforce Development meant that a number of opportunities had been missed.

"We tested documents and records for 58 contracts, worth a total of $540 million, and found that proper procedures were followed for only three of the 58 contracts," he said.

"As a result up to 141 employment opportunities for apprentices may have been missed."

The audit also found that works agencies were not consistent in their implementation of the policy.