Senate Order for entity contracts
In line with the Senate Order for Entity Contracts, Comcare is required to publish twice a year on its website a list of all current contracts with a value of $100,000 or more.
The contract list must include details of:
- each contract entered into by the entity which has not been fully performed or which has been entered into in the previous 12 months, and which provides for a consideration to the value of $100,000 or more;
- the contractor, the amount of consideration, the subject matter of each contract, the commencement date of each contract and the anticipated end date of the contract.
- whether each contract contains provisions requiring the parties to maintain confidentiality of any of its provisions, or whether there are any other requirements of confidentiality, and a statement of reasons for confidentiality; and
- an estimate of the cost of complying with this order and a statement of the method used to make the estimate.
In accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, Procurement contracts valued $400,000 or more are reported on the AusTender website.
The majority of the contracts identified in the attached Comcare listings contain confidentiality provisions of a general nature that are designed to protect the confidential information of the parties that may be obtained or generated in carrying out the contract. The reasons for including such clauses include:
- ordinary commercial prudence that requires protection of trade secrets, proprietary information and the like; and/or
- protection of proprietary material and personal information.
Comcare procurement complaints
To make a complaint about a procurement conducted by Comcare, including a complaint under the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018, email procurement.complaints@comcare.gov.au.
The Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018 establishes an independent complaint mechanism for government procurement processes. It requires Australian Government agencies such as Comcare to:
- formally investigate complaints made in accordance with this Act
- suspend procurements during an investigation of a complaint made under the Act, unless a public interest certificate is in place.
This Act also requires suppliers to take reasonable steps to resolve a complaint with the relevant Australian Government agency before taking action in the Federal Circuit Court.
See the Handling Complaints under the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act resource management guide produced by the Department of Finance for more information.
