Fair Work Commission

Asset management

The Commission's main asset types are leasehold improvements and computer equipment. Asset management is not considered to be a significant aspect of the strategic business of the Commission and so an assessment of the effectiveness of the Commission's asset management processes is not reported.

Procurement

The Commission's approach to procuring goods and services, including consultancies, is consistent with, and reflects the principles of, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. These Rules are applied to activities through the Accountable Authority Instructions and procurement policies.

The following criteria are applied to all of the Commission's procurement activities:

• value for money
• encouraging competition
• efficient, effective and ethical procurement and
• accountability and transparency

All open approaches to market are advertised at tenders.gov.au.

Contracts

No contracts in excess of $10,000 (including GST) or standing offers were exempted by the General Manager from being published on AusTender on the basis that they would disclose exempt matters under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

No contracts of $100,000 or more (including GST) were let during 2015-16 that did not provide for the Auditor-General to have access to the contractor's premises.

Procurement Committee

The Procurement Committee is managed by the Manager, Reporting, Planning and Legal and includes two other Commission employees. It has a role in ensuring that procurements made by the Commission are consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and Commission policies.

Outcomes of proposed procurements at or above $80,000 are referred to the Procurement Committee for approval.

Procurement initiatives to support small business

The Commission supports small business participation in the Commonwealth Government procurement market. Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and small enterprise participation statistics are available on the Department of Finance's website at www.finance.gov.au/procurement/statistics-on-commonwealth-purchasing-con....

The Commission's procurement practices support SMEs, including by the use of the Commonwealth Contracting Suite for low-risk procurements valued under $200,000, and communicate clear, simple language presented in an accessible format throughout the procurement process.

Consultants

The Commission engages external consultants where the necessary specialised or professional skills are unavailable within the Commission or where there is a need for independent research or assessment.

The Commission's practices on the selection and engagement of consultants are in accordance with the PGPA Act and related regulations including the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and relevant internal policies. The methods of selection used for consultancies include open tender, select tender, direct sourcing and panel arrangements (initially selected through either an open tender or select tender process).

During 2015–16 thirteen new consultancy contracts were entered into involving total actual expenditure of $251,142. In addition, four ongoing consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total actual expenditure of $348,552.

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 at tenders.gov.au.