PROCUREMENT%20UPDATE

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EC4P Pilot Rapid Advancement The EC4P
(Electronic Commerce for Procurement) pilot
project at Department of Natural Resources and
Environment (NRE) is proceeding rapidly. NRE is
conducting a trial of the process of engaging
suppliers to participate in their electronic
procurement solution. This involves helping
suppliers place their products and services on
electronic catalogues. Trade Fairs have been
held in regional cities such as Warrnambool,
Tatura, Bendigo, Ballarat and Traralgon. Some 95
suppliers have agreed to participate in the pilot
so far and around 55 of these suppliers
catalogues have been loaded on to the system
ready for use with the balance to be loaded
before the system goes live. In the meantime
other departments have been busy preparing their
strategies and business cases for EC4P
implementation. The strategy work will be used
to form the basis of a Request for Quote (RFQ)
which will then be submitted to selected panel
members. Responses to the RFQ will assist the
departments decision as to which service
provider will then be appointed to implement
EC4P. EC4P Panel Following a recent review of
the EC4P panel strategy, it has been decided to
invite and evaluate new entrants from April 2001.
The panel currently consists of four service
providers who provide full electronic procurement
solutions for use by departments and agencies.
New entrants will be considered via a formal
tender process that is expected to take about
three months. The recent review of the panel
strategy was conducted in conjunction with
departments and other key stakeholders. -
Andrew Ferrarese (Tel. [phone]) Project
Manager, E-commerce - Cris Popp (Tel. 03 9651
2587) Project Coordinator, E-commerce
PROCUREMENT UPDATE is the newsletter published
by Procurement Branch, Department of Treasury and
Finance, bringing you news on the latest
developments in procurement and contracting in
the Victorian Government. Enquiry Call Lucille
Tam [phone]
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• Review of Government Purchasing Arrangements and
  Connection with Premiers Statement on Openness
  and Probity
• The Review of Victorian Government Purchasing
  Arrangements was completed by KPMG Consulting in
  June 2000. KPMGs recommendations in the
  specific area of probity in procurement have been
  largely accepted by the Government and
  implemented as part of the Premiers Statement
  Ensuring Openness and Probity in Victorian
  Government Contracting issued on 11 October
  2000. That Statement drew from several sources
  including KPMGs Review, Professor Bill Russells
  Audit Review of Government Contracting and two
  reports of the Public Accounts and Estimates
  Committee.
• The Premiers Statement can be found in full via
  a hotlink from the Victorian Government
  Purchasing Boards (VGPB) website
  www.vgpb.vic.gov.au. Key directions include
• Independent scrutiny of departmental contracts by
  VGPB to continue.
• Construction contracts will also be subject to
  independent scrutiny.
• Government contracts worth more than 10 million
  and headline details of all contracts worth more
  than 100,000 will now be made publicly available
  on the Internet. The public can access these
  contracts at www.contracts.vic.gov.au or via a
  hotlink from the Boards website.
• The Government will disclose up to 70 contracts
  entered into by Kennet Government on the VGPB
  website. A large number of these contracts are
  already available.
• Freedom of Information principles will apply in
  managing any exceptions (only trade secrets or
  genuinely confidential information will be
  withheld from disclosure, along with material
  that if disclosed would seriously harm the public
  interest).
• Ministers will notify Parliament of reasons for
  non-disclosure of contracts (eg. major events,
  business attraction) in annual reports.
• Any Government Department letting a tender worth
  more than 10 million is now required to develop
  a probity plan. In addition, the Secretary of
  each Department will have the option, for
  particularly large, sensitive or complex
  transactions, of appointing an external auditor
  to provide ongoing advice on probity issues
  throughout the tendering process.
• All public sector agencies and Government
  Business Enterprises are required to articulate
  probity standards which must be at least as
  strong as the VGPBs.
• To support the Governments disclosure
  requirements, the VGPB has released a policy
  Disclosure of Contracts Contracts Publishing
  System. This policy outlines the Governments
  contract reporting requirements in further
  detail.
• KPMGs other recommendations eg. in the areas of
  regional or local development impact of tenders,
  more consistent application of procurement policy
  standards across the wider public sector beyond
  Government departments, wider monitoring of
  electronic commerce implementation strategies,
  study of reasons for waiving public tender
  requirements are currently under consideration by
  Government and further advice will follow.

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• Victorian Government Purchasing Board
• Annual Report 1999-2000
• The Hon Lynne Kosky MP tabled the fifth annual
  report for the Victorian Government Purchasing
  Board in Parliament on 31 October 2000.
• The report covers
• Electronic Commerce in the Victorian Government
• Accredited Purchasing Unit Procurement Activities
• Review of Victorian Government Purchasing
  Arrangements
• Performance Evaluation of Procurement in the
  Victorian Government
• Online Developments
• GST Implementation
• Multi-million Dollar Savings through Strategic
  Contracting
• Information about the Board
• PURIST Purchasing and Procurement Data across
  Government.
• To obtain your copy of the report, please contact
  Angelina Cardillo by phone on 03 9651 2398, or
  email your postal details to angelina.cardillo_at_dtf
  .vic.gov.au.

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Three New Board Members The Governor in Council
has approved three new Victorian Government
Purchasing Board members who commenced their
terms of office on 1 October, 2000. The new
members are Ms. Faith Fitzgerald, Ms Marissa Di
Pasquale and Mr Mark Burford. The new members
bring skills in electronic commerce, policy
development and government business
enterprises. The Procurement Branch provided the
new members with a short orientation presentation
the day before they took their seats at their
first Board meeting on 26 October 2000. The
Review of Government Purchasing Arrangements
carried out by KPMG Consulting has made
recommendations in such areas as electronic
commerce and more consistent application of
procurement policies across Government (see
separate article). The new Board will be well
placed to continue and strengthen its role in
leading and advising in such areas of policy and
standards development. The re-appointed external
members of the VGPB are Mr Robin Jervis-Read and
Mr. Bruce Hartnett. Senior public servants Ms
Karen Cleave (Department of Education, Employment
and Training), Mr Alan Stewart (Department of
Natural Resources and Environment) and Mr Lance
Wallace (Department of Human Services) were also
re-appointed to the Board. - Roy Duncanson (Tel.
03 9651 2582) Secretary to the Board
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• PACCERs Recognition of Current Competencies
• Individuals who wish to have their procurement
  and contracting skills and knowledge formally
  recognised may now apply for the Recognition of
  Current Competencies (RCC) under PACCER.
• RCC (previously known as RPL - Recognition of
  Prior Learning) is a process that acknowledges
  competencies can be gained formally, through
  education and training programs, or less
  formally, through life and/or work experience.
• The PACCER RCC enables individuals to be assessed
  against competency standards under the Key Area
  Procurement and Contract Management within the
  National Public Services Training Package. (The
  Training Package was endorsed in November 1999 by
  the National Training Framework Committee and
  agreed to by all States and Territory Ministers.)
• Suitable candidates for the RCC under PACCER are
• Those nominated by Departments and agencies to
  fulfil the requirements for advancement to higher
  levels of the Victorian Government Purchasing
  Board (VGPB) Devolution Accreditation Framework.
• Individuals who believe that they do not require
  procurement and contract management training but
  wish to obtain formal recognition of their level
  of competence.
• Individuals wishing to assess their level of
  competence in procurement and contract management
  to identify gaps for further development.
• To find out more about the procurement and
  contract management competency standards, visit
  the Public Service Education and Training
  Australias website www.pseta.com.au, go to
  National Training Package then Key Area
  Procurement and Contract Management.
• To find out more about the RCC under PACCER or to
  apply for assessment, please contact your PACCER
  customer service staff on [phone].
• - Lucille Tam (Tel. [phone])