Number: 2021/17
Issue Date: 04/11/2021
Review Date: 30/06/2025
Policy
Government departments and agencies are to prepare and submit details of all Consultants engaged on contracts for services, for each six-month period to
30 June and 31 December each year, to their relevant Minister’s Office within five weeks of the end of each six month period.
The information is to be submitted in accordance with the format shown at Appendix 1 and is to be approved by the Chief Executive Officer.
Ministerial Offices are required to collate returns from government departments and agencies and submit these to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (the Department) within eight weeks of the end of each six-month period.
Background
Consistent with this Government’s commitment to openness and accountability, details of contracts valued at $50,000 and above awarded by Government departments and agencies that are subject to the Procurement Act 2020, are available on Tenders WA at www.tenders.wa.gov.au.
A six-monthly summary of consultants engaged on contracts for services will also be prepared which will include details of both new and ongoing consultancy arrangements. Government may table these summaries in Parliament.
For the purpose of this circular, a consultant is considered to be any person engaged on a fee-for-service basis to provide strategic advice for Government to act on.
It does not include contractors who are engaged to provide a service that does not involve the provision of management advice to Government. Nor does it include functional advice for agencies to act on such as reviews of departmental computing needs, management audits or tender assessments.
Accordingly, excluded from the report are contracts in respect of engineering services, training programs, printing, computer development and support services, actuarial services, publicity and promotional programs, project management services, valuations, accounting services, customer surveys and bench marking.
Consultants are assessed against the above criteria individually by the Department, based on details of the purpose of engagement provided by each agency, to determine if they meet the definition for inclusion in the summary report. This assessment has been undertaken by the Department on a consistent basis since 1996.
Ministers and agencies should submit a nil return if there were no current or new consultant arrangements during the period.
Mark McGowan MLA
PREMIER
Other relevant Circulars: 2016/02
Circular/s replaced by this Circular: 2019/06, 2016/02
