VIC

Approximately 250 delegates - mainly government procurement officers - listened to Robert Higgins, Branch Manager of the Gateway Unit within the Department of Finance and Administration (DOFA) outline the federal government’s intended approach to the Gateway Review Process at DOFA’s second annual Australian Government Procurement Conference on Tuesday 4 April 2006.

The Victorian Auditor-General has published a Good Practice Guide on Public Sector procurement, setting out best practice procedures for all Departments and Agencies involved in the purchasing function.

Entitled Public Sector Procurement: Turning Principles into Practice, the Guide describes good practice in each of the major phases of procurement. It provides an overview of the principles underpinning how procurement should be carried out, the phases of the procurement cycle, the aims of each phase and the key steps involved.

The Federal Government seems committed to spending the first $100m of its National Secondary School Computer Fund by June 2008. Whilst the application process for schools appears to be well underway, there is still no word on exactly how the state and territory agencies, as well as non-government school systems, will undertake purchasing of the equipment and services.

The Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO) has just released a report into records management within Victorian public sector agencies. It found serious shortcomings in the record management by many agencies, and made some sweeping recommendations for improvements.

The report Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector, follows an investigation into whether agencies were managing records in accordance with the Public Records Act 1973, and whether the act was operating efficiently and effectively in facilitating sound records management in the public sector.