The National Blood Authority adheres to the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance when undertaking procurements. The guidelines are applied to the NBA’s activities through chief executive and management instructions and key business processes.
The NBA has developed business processes to ensure that the knowledge and best practices developed within the agency for our key purchasing activities are captured and made available to new staff and that relevant procedures and processes are documented and followed.
Over recent years several internal audit programs have tested these processes to ensure that they meet government policy and better practice. The audit findings were consistently favourable in relation to complying with mandatory processes and also recommended opportunities to improve processes; these have been implemented.
The key business processes will be constantly reviewed and refined as part of the NBA’s own requirement for continual improvement in the management of its core business functions.
The NBA used extension provisions to several current contracts, following a value-for-money assessment, and completed several small open source procurements, including:
The NBA has outsourced all air travel bookings. Government policy requires the NBA to obtain the ‘lowest practical fare’ for domestic travel and the ‘best fare of the day’ for international travel for NBA employees. From 1 July 2010, the NBA has been included in Australian Government whole-of-government air travel arrangements.
The NBA did not administer any discretionary grants during 2010–11.
Three funding agreements entered into with jurisdictions, using interest monies from administered funds approved by the JBC, continued in 2010–11. Information on these is available on the NBA website, www.nba.gov.au.
The General Manager did not issue any exemptions from the required publication of any contract or standing offer in the Purchasing and disposal gazette.
There were no contracts of $100,000 or more (inclusive of GST) let in 2010–11 that did not provide for the Auditor-General’s access to the contractor’s premises.
Section 311A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires particulars of all amounts greater than $10,300 paid during a financial year to advertising agencies, market research organisations, polling organisations, direct mail organisations and media advertising organisations. The NBA made no payments of this kind in 2010–11.
In 2010–11, nine new consultancy contracts were entered into, involving total actual expenditure of $473,819 (GST inclusive). In addition, seven ongoing consultancy contracts were active during the year, involving actual expenditure of $925,272 (GST inclusive). Total expenditure on consultancies in 2010–11 was $1,399,091.
Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website, www.tenders.gov.au.
The policies and procedures for selecting consultants and approving the required expenditure are set out in chief executive and management instructions and key business processes. These processes adhere to the principles of the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance.
Standard form contracts are used. Where necessary, these documents are adapted to suit individual circumstances.
Table 6.5 shows total expenditure on all consultancy services from 2007–11, covering both new contracts let in the applicable year and ongoing contracts let in previous years.
Table 6.6 provides details of consultancy contracts let by the NBA in 2010–11 and the value of contracts over their entire life. Contracts with a value of less than $10,000 have not been included, in line with the annual reporting requirements of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit.
| Consultant Name | Description | Contract Price (GST Incl.) | Selection Process | Justification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biotext Pty Ltd | Systematic Reviewer for the 2010 review of the IVIg Criteria for Use | 150,000.00 | Open Tender | A |
| Gaudin Consultancy Limited | Provision of professional services to provide independent advice for Output Based Funding Model | 60,000.00 | Direct Source | B |
| Health Technology Analysts Pty Limited | Procurement of a Systematic Reviewer and Technical Writer Services | 1,415,000.00 | Open Tender | A |
| IMS Australia Pty Ltd | Procurement of a Systematic Reviewer | 304,175.00 | Open Tender | A |
| Ken Barker Consulting Pty Ltd | Consultancy services for an independent member of the National Blood Authority’s Audit Committee | 22,000.00 | Direct Source | B |
| Morison Consulting Pty Ltd | Consultancy services for an independent member of the National Blood Authority’s Audit Committee | 48,400.00 | Direct Source | B |
| The Loch Group Pty Limited | Consultancy services for an independent member of the National Blood Authority’s Audit Committee | 41,800.00 | Direct Source | B |
| Australian Healthcare Associates Pty Ltd | Provision of professional services to undertake comparative studies of demand management frameworks in the health sector | 94,380.00 | Select Tender | A |
| Pricewaterhouse Coopers | Provision of consultancy services to provide Management and Advice Support Services for the National Managed Fund | 1,066,073.00 | Open Tender | B |
| Gaudin Consultancy Limited | Provision of professional services to provide an independent review for the cost attribution process of the Output Based Funding Model | 50,000.00 | Direct Source | B |
| Globin Global | Procurement of technical expertise in the procurement of diagnostic reagents | 10,924.99 | Direct Source | A |
| Ernst & Young | Provision of professional services to provide independent advice on inventory management and distribution by the Blood Service | 179,817.00 | Select Tender | B |
| KPMG | Provision of professional services to provide independent advice on Fraud risk assessment and a Fraud Control plan | 37,007.85 | Direct Source | B |
| Marsh Pty Ltd | Procurement of technical expertise in the review of insurance | 25,768.39 | Direct Source | A |
| Dr Louise Morauta | Provision of professional services to identify options for increasing the consistency in which blood and blood products are used nationally | 25,000.00 | Direct Source | A |
| UXC Connect Pty Limited | Procurement of technical expertise to undertake a review of ICT infrastructure | 27,277.00 | Direct Source | A |
Notes: ‘open tender’—a procurement procedure in which a request for tender is published inviting all businesses that satisfy the conditions for participation to submit tenders.
‘select tender’—a procurement procedure in which the procuring agency selects which potential suppliers are invited to submit tenders in accordance with the mandatory procurement procedures.
‘direct sourcing’—a procurement procedure, available only in defined circumstances, in which an agency may contact a single potential supplier or suppliers of its choice and for which conditions for direct sourcing apply under the mandatory procurement procedures.
Justification for decision to use consultancy: A—requirement for specialist expertise not available within the NBA; B—requirement for independence considered essential.