Commonwealth Procurement Rules
The Commonwealth Procurement RulesExternal Link (CPRs) outline the rules surrounding procurement contracts for Australian Government agencies.
The CPRs provide guidelines that we and any potential or current supplier must follow.
Understanding these responsibilities and relevant guidelines can also assist you in writing a targeted tender response.
Supplier diversity
The CPRs contain rules to promote equal opportunity in the marketplace and encourage Commonwealth agencies to engage with underrepresented groups.
These groups include registered Indigenous businesses, Australian Disability Enterprises and Small to Medium sized Enterprises.
See our supplier diversity information to understand how we align with these CPRs rules and our approach to engaging diverse suppliers through procurement.
Digital services
While the CPRs set out rules we must comply with when procuring goods and services, there are additional rules and guidelines that must be followed for procurements with businesses within the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) goods and services sector.
The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) ICT procurement pageExternal Link provides further information on the rules and guidelines, which aim to:
- make it easier and less expensive for businesses to contract with the Australian Government
- deliver better government services at a lower cost.
Modern slavery
The Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 establishes a national modern slavery reporting requirement for certain large businesses and other entities in the Australian market to report on risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. See Modern slavery reporting requirementsExternal Link.
Statement of tax record
Businesses tendering for Commonwealth Government procurements that are undertaken through open tenders and have an estimated total value of over $4 million (including GST) must obtain a statement of tax record (STR) showing satisfactory engagement with the tax system. First tier subcontractors undertaking work as part of these procurements are also required to have a satisfactory tax record.
See Statement of tax record to find out:
- what a STR is
- how to apply for an STR
- what happens if your STR is unsatisfactory.
Senate order
The Senate order on departmental and agency contracts requires agencies to publish details of procurement contracts valued at $100,000 or more (including GST) that were active in the previous 12 months.
From 1 July 2015, reports have been generated by the Department of Finance and published on AusTenderExternal Link.
Our report is available on AusTender from the ‘Senate Order’ menu, and we assure that the listed contracts do not contain any inappropriate confidential provisions.
The cost of compliance with the Senate order is estimated at $2,600 on the basis of full direct costs – that is the cost of salaries for the time spent by staff on data collection, quality assurance, management and administrative support relating to the production of the Senate order.
Complaints about procurement
The Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018 (Cth) :
- establishes an independent complaint mechanism for government procurement processes
- applies to contraventions or proposed contraventions of relevant Commonwealth Procurement Rules for relevant procurements.
Learn more about Procurement related complaints.