New website clarifies Government IT procurement

The Department of Finance and Deregulation has launched a revised, simplified and modernised guide to selling products and services to the Australian Government.

The new site splits all content into two broad categories - one for Government buyers and one for sellers.

The Buying in Government section offers links to ICT Procurement, details about the ever expanding list of Whole of Government Procurement initiatives, the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines, AusTender, Finance Circulars and a handy link to recent Auditor-General reports under the heading of 'Lessons learned'.

Audit reports in the failed NBN RFP process, the Building the Education Revolution scheme, the Green Loans Program and Home Insulation program are linked.

In addition there is a handy five-tabbed section covering the policy framework, accountability, procurement practice, reporting and contract issues.

The Selling to Government offers one-click access to wisdom very IT supply should be across. This includes the 48-page Guide to Selling to Government (first published February 2009), AusTender and new sections to introduce readers to procurement issues via an “Easy Reference Guide” and “Glossary”.

The latter explains what the CAC Act, FMA Act, Direct Sourcing and Covered procurement really mean.

A spokesman for the department said older information on procurement will remain on the site to complement the new pages.