View Current

Procurement policy

This is the current version of this document. To view historic versions, click the link in the document's navigation bar.

Section 1 - Preamble

(1) This Policy is effective from 4 August 2017.

Top of Page

Section 2 - Purpose

(2) This Policy ensures that the procurement of all goods or services is conducted in an honest, competitive, fair and transparent manner that delivers a best value for money outcome.

Top of Page

Section 3 - Scope

(3) This Policy applies to all staff and associates who procure goods and services with funds administered by the University or its controlled entities, including from external sources such as research funding agencies.

(4) Staff and associates must familiarise themselves with the details and act in accordance with this Policy and the:

  1. Accessibility of Materials procedure;
  2. Business Expenses policy;
  3. Code of Conduct;
  4. Conflict of Interest procedure;
  5. Contracts policy;
  6. Credit Card policy;
  7. Diversity and Inclusion policy;
  8. Delegations policy;
  9. Fraud and Corruption Prevention and Control procedure;
  10. Gifts and Hospitality Acceptance policy;
  11. Health, Wellbeing and Safety policy;
  12. Sustainability policy;
  13. Travel policy and procedure.

(5) The engagement of legal consultants where expertise is required to support DeakinLegal or another area of the University in the delivery of their services does not require referral to this Policy but does require the endorsement of the General Counsel.

(6) The purchase of land and property is not subject to the requirements of this Policy.

(7) The purchase of goods or services from Commonwealth, State or Territory public sector entities (including statutory authorities and government business enterprises) is not subject to the requirements of this Policy.

(8) The purchase of clinical or educational placement services provided by health, education and related organisations are not subject to the requirements of this Policy.

(9) Critical incident situations that necessitate urgent procurement needs are not subject to the requirements of this Policy but should be followed up under the exemption requirements of this Policy as soon as possible after the purchase.

Top of Page

Section 4 - Policy

Procurement principles

(10) The procurement of goods and services must occur in a planned and systematic manner and must:

  1. deliver value for money taking into account life cycle cost, fitness for purpose, timely delivery, post-delivery support and effective warranty;
  2. meet probity and ethical conduct requirements as specified in relevant University policies;
  3. promote sustainable procurement priorities and the principles of continuous sustainability improvement in conjunction with the Sustainability policy;
  4. embed risk management in the procurement process.

Procurement procedures

(11) Procurement activities must be undertaken in accordance with the value and risk based requirements detailed in the Procurement procedure and the Procurement Guidelines, unless an exemption has been granted.

(12) The expected life cycle cost of a procurement activity be estimated before a decision on the procurement method is made. The expected life cycle cost is the maximum value (excluding ) of the proposed contract, including options, extensions, renewals, licences or other mechanisms that may be executed over the life of the contract.

(13) Purchasers must consider the most appropriate manner to approach the potential supply market (market approach) in accordance with the guidance provided in the Procurement procedure. A market approach must be conducted unless an exemption applies under clause 34 below. A procurement activity not be divided into separate parts to avoid a market approach process or to reduce the level of delegation authorisation.

(14) Purchasers must obtain written authorisation to commence a market approach process from a staff member within their sponsor area or at an aligned higher level with a financial delegation for general expenditure of at least $300,000 (refer to the Delegations policy), so long as that activity is within a current budget or has been endorsed by the Portfolio Board.

(15) All purchases with a contract value of greater than $300,000 must be facilitated in conjunction with or by the Procurement Services Group. Facilitation by the Procurement Services Group also applies to the ongoing purchase of goods or services where the aggregated value of those purchases across the University is greater than $300,000 over the life of a contract (refer the Procurement procedure and the Procurement Guidelines).

(16) Purchasers must use University standard form market approach or similar request documents unless approval for the use of other documentation is granted by the Procurement Services Manager. Documents must be developed in accordance with the requirements of the Procurement Guidelines.

(17) Any market approach request greater than $100,000 (exclusive of GST) must be released and managed through the University’s e-tender portal Tenderlink or another approved portal.

(18) All responses to a market approach received by the University must be:

  1. uploaded to the University document management system
  2. evaluated in accordance with the requirements of the Procurement Guidelines.

(19) A market approach report must be prepared which identifies the preferred respondent. This report must be approved by a person with the appropriate delegation under the Delegations policy.

(20) All respondents must have access to market approach debriefings at an appropriate point in the procurement process. Debriefings are the responsibility of the staff member facilitating the market approach.

Non-allowable items

(21) University funds must not be used for:

  1. the purchase of gifts valued at over $100, unless approved in advance and in writing by the Chief Operating Officer, or the Vice-Chancellor in the case of the Chief Operating Officer;
  2. the purchase of goods or services for non-business staff functions, including farewells, valued at more than $50 per person, unless approved in advance by the Chief Operating Officer , or the Vice-Chancellor in the case of the Chief Operating Officer;
  3. personal expenses (Business Expenses policy);
  4. travel, entertainment or goods and services for family members and personal associates of staff, unless approved in advance and in writing by the Chief Operating Officer, or the Vice-Chancellor in the case of the Chief Operating Officer (Travel policy);
  5. purchases of a private nature, including purchase of Deakin car parking permits and the settlement of parking or traffic infringements.

Suppliers

(22) Contracted suppliers must be used for all purchases where available, unless the goods or services are not the subject of an exclusive contract and an exemption is granted by the Chief Operating Officer on the advice of the Procurement Services Manager.

(23) Preferred suppliers may be used where there is no contracted supplier and only for purchases that meet the quotation requirements of the Procurement procedure.

(24) Where there are no contracted suppliers or preferred suppliers, purchasers must select a supplier in accordance with the requirements of the Procurement procedure based on the value and risk of the proposed purchase.

(25) Goods or services provided by all suppliers should be subject to periodic review or market testing by the sponsor area. Periods of engagement should generally be set at three years, with two further one-year extensions. Extensions must be set to occur at the sole discretion of the University.

Specific classes of purchase

(26) For travel related goods or services, purchases must be made in accordance with the Travel policy.

(27) Workstations (including PCs, laptops and related equipment) purchases must be made through the Deakin University End User Computing service (EUC) with copier, printer and scanner purchases made through the Managed Print Service (Print@Deakin) unless an exemption has been provided by the Chief Digital Officer.  All information technology software, hardware or services, purchased for the University must comply with the ICT Standards and be endorsed by the Chief Digital Officer prior to purchase.

(28) All purchases of motor vehicles will be made by the Executive Director, Campus Services. Purchased motor vehicles must meet the following criteria:

  1. have the highest available safety rating;
  2. provide the best blend of suitability for purpose, lowest emissions and greatest fuel efficiency and that they;
  3. provide the best economic return.

(29) Mail and courier services must be accessed through the University’s corporate accounts for general mail and parcels, parcels sent within Australia and parcels sent internationally. All mail and courier services shall be accessed in accordance with guidelines set by the Procurement Services Manager.

(30) Library purchases must be made in accordance with the requirements of the Library management system.

Corporate credit card use

(31) Purchases paid for by corporate credit card must be undertaken in accordance with the Credit Card policy.

Exemptions from specific procurement requirements

(32) The Chief Operating Officer may grant exemptions to the procurement requirements, on the advice of the Procurement Services Manager, in the following circumstances:

  1. there is only one supplier in Australia, where specialist expertise is required, or where the goods or services can only be supplied by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods or services exist;
  2. no responses from a market approach process are received from suppliers, or responses do not conform to the request documentation, or are deemed to be unsuitable;
  3. the goods or services cannot be obtained in time under the required processes because they are urgently required (‘urgent’ applies to health, security or safety consequences or critical incidents, unforeseen events or occurrences only);
  4. the goods or services are either replacement parts from an original supplier, an extension of the original goods or services, or a continuing service for existing equipment and software upgrades or licensing (i.e. where a change in supplier would necessitate the procurement of goods and services that do not meet current operability or changeability requirements);
  5. the goods and services are a prototype, a proof of concept or of an innovative nature;
  6. a State Government purchasing contract or other approved purchasing scheme has been used; the procurement of goods or services from a particular supplier is specified as part of a government grant or similar arrangement;
  7. a lesser procurement process is to be conducted (eg. the use of a select tender process when an open tender process would normally be required);
  8. the use of an alternative supplier in a category of activity that is covered by a contracted supplier;
  9. or other exceptional circumstances exist as determined by the Chief Operating Officer.

(33) Exemption from the Procurement policy and procedure requirements only applies to the market approach process, and does not exempt the procurement activity from financial delegation, legal, commercial, risk management or other planning or approval processes.

(34) A single sourcing market approach is not required to go through the exemption process provided that it:

  1. is supported by the Procurement Services Manager
  2. is endorsed by the Portfolio Board as part of a proposal registration or business case application; and
  3. has complied with the value and risk assessments of the Procurement procedure.

(35) Prior to the submission of an exemption the purchaser is required to complete value and risk based outcomes detailed in the Procurement procedure.

Approval of exemptions

(36) To obtain an exemption a Certificate of Exemption request must be submitted to the Procurement Services Manager.  

(37) The Procurement Services Manager may:

  1. seek further information from the person requesting the exemption
  2. reject the request for exemption; or
  3. make a recommendation to the Vice-Chancellor to approve the exemption.

(38) The Chief Operating Officer may:

  1.  seek further information from the person requesting the exemption;
  2. reject the request for exemption; or
  3. refer a Certificate of Exemption to the Vice-Chancellor for approval, or approve the exemption.

(39) Where an exemption is sought no commitment to a supplier may be made until the request is approved.

Contract development execution and management

(40) All contract development and approval must comply with the Contracts policy.

(41) Contract periods for procurement activities of a long term nature should extend over a reasonable timeframe and generally be set at three years, with two further one-year extensions. Contract extensions must be set to occur at the sole discretion of the University.

(42) All procurement contracts must have a University staff member assigned as the contract manager.

(43) All contract variations must be uploaded to the University document management system against the original contract.

(44) The Delegations policy must be complied with when approving and executing a variation or amendment to a contract.

Record keeping

(45) All documents and records associated with the purchase of goods or services must be uploaded into University document management system.

(46) Purchasers must maintain appropriate documentation for each procurement activity in accordance with the Information and Records Management policy. The level of documentation to be maintained is detailed in the Procurement Guidelines.

(47) The appropriate detail of documentation should be commensurate with the scale, scope and risk of the procurement. Documentation should provide accurate and concise information on the following as a minimum:

  1. the requirement for the procurement;
  2. the process that was followed;
  3. the market approach documents and any supplier responses to a market approach;
  4. how value for money was considered and achieved;
  5. reports containing relevant decisions and the basis of those decisions; the contract;
  6. all communications, including debriefings, with suppliers during the market approach;
  7. and all communication and decisions during the term of the contract.

(48) The University must maintain appropriate documentation with the supplier, such as a written contract or purchase order.

Responsibilities

(49) A procurement statement is required as part of project registration or business case development through the Deakin Portfolio Office that includes:

  1. the scope of any procurement requirements;
  2. any policy matters affecting the procurement activity;
  3. any market analysis that has been undertaken;
  4. the internal and external stakeholders;
  5. the procurement process that is being proposed (market approach);
  6. the contract management arrangements;
  7. and any relevant transitional issues.

(50) The Procurement Services Manager is responsible for oversight of the purchase of goods or services to ensure compliance with this Policy.

(51) A purchaser is responsible for ensuring that they comply with this Policy.

Top of Page

Section 5 - Procedure

(52) The Procurement procedure documents out how to comply with this Policy.

Top of Page

Section 6 - Definitions

(53) For the purpose of this Policy:

  1. goods and services: the supply of equipment, consumables and like items (goods) or the provision of services or the execution of works (services).
  2. life cycle cost: the full cost of the goods or services purchased including but not limited to planning, development, implementation, ongoing management, maintenance and transition.  The life cycle cost is the full cost across all of the years of a potential contract.
  3. market approach: informing the potential supply market about the procurement requirements, including a Request for Quotation, Expression of Interest, Request for Tender, Request for Proposal, Request for Information, E-Auction or similar process.
  4. purchaser: a staff member of the University, a staff member of one of the University’s controlled entities, or any other person or organisation authorised to undertake procurement activities on behalf of the University.
  5. supplier: an external individual, partnership or company engaged to provide goods and services to the University.