These days, agencies have all sorts of procurement requirements to try to slant the playing field in favour of disadvantaged groups. Former prime minister Tony Abbott imposed a quota for Indigenous participation. From virtually no Indigenous participation, there is now more than $1 billion of work being directed at First Nations businesses, a successful use of procurement to drive a broader outcome.
But while quotas have their place, agencies in general loathe having to skew their contract selection away from the tried and tested value-for-money criteria. Many split contracts to try to avoid the various controls.
Failing that, already heavily bureaucratic procurement processes are at risk of becoming even slower as officials seek candidates who deliver the required value and have the capability to honour the contractual requirements.
With moves to wind back contractors and consulting in favour of increased internal delivery, the level of tendering is likely to decrease as agencies look to deliver using in-house resources. This is particularly so in the IT space, where many contractors are really only bodies that agencies could not hire because of staffing caps.
