• Section 1 - Preamble
• Section 2 - Purpose
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Policy
• Section 5 - Procedure
• Planning for Procurement
• Procurement within Restricted Categories
• Procurement within Other Categories
• Market Approach
• Table A: Procurement Thresholds
• Procurement and Probity Plans
• Purchase Requests
• Alternative Procurement Process
• Contracts
• Section 6 - Definitions

Section 1 - Preamble

(1) This Procedure is effective from 21 September 2021.

Section 2 - Purpose

(2) This Procedure provides instruction on how to acquire goods and services on behalf of the University.

Section 3 - Scope

(3) This Procedure applies to the purchase or lease of all goods and services from suppliers external to the University and its controlled entities except as otherwise specified in other policies and procedures.

Section 4 - Policy

(4) This Procedure is pursuant to the Procurement policy.

Section 5 - Procedure

Planning for Procurement

(5) Purchasers must ensure that they have the required financial delegation to make a purchase, or that a staff member with an appropriate financial delegation can complete the purchase on their behalf.

(6) Purchasers must confirm there is an approved budget for the goods and services being procured. The total expenditure over the lifecycle of a good or service must be taken into account.

(7) All procurement activities must be undertaken using approved Procurement Templates. (Contact procure@deakin.edu.au for templates).

(8) Prior to undertaking procurement activity a purchaser should consider whether their procurement poses any risks to Deakin. Guidance on identifying risks is outlined in the procurement category plans provided on the Procurement intranet pages. If in doubt a purchaser can contact Procurement Services for advice.

Procurement within Restricted Categories

(9) Purchasers must contact Procurement Services before purchasing goods or services from the following restricted categories:

1. facilities management and maintenance;
2. utilities;
3. information and communications technology (including services, websites, software and hardware);
4. major construction;
5. legal services;
6. contractors and consultants;
7. any purchase with a life cycle consideration greater than $300,000.

(10) Procurement Services will refer the purchaser to the Restricted Category Manager who will undertake or facilitate the procurement on the purchaser’s behalf.

Procurement within Other Categories

(11) Purchasers must use approved suppliers listed on the procurement intranet page unless the Chief Operating Officer has approved an alternative process in accordance with clauses 21-23.

Market Approach

(12) Procurement Services will facilitate market approaches, except for select Requests for Quotation as set out in clause 14.

(13) All market approaches (except for Requests for Quotations less than $100,000 in value) must be conducted through the University’s approved e-tender portal, or another approved portal as determined by the Procurement Services Manager.

(14) A Request for Quotation process can be used by any staff member or associate when:

1. a procurement activity does not fall into a restricted category as set out in clause 9;
2. there are no significant risks to the procurement activity;
3. the purchase to delivery process will be relatively short (i.e. less than approximately three months).

(15) Where a market approach is at or above a threshold specified in Table A the corresponding procurement process and minimum requirements must be followed, unless an alternative to the procurement process is approved.

Table A: Procurement Thresholds

Procurement and Probity Plans

(16) The purchaser must develop a procurement plan in conjunction with Procurement Services for any procurement activity considered to be of high risk and high value as detailed in the relevant category plan.

(17) The purchaser must develop a probity plan in conjunction with Procurement Services for every procurement activity considered to be of high risk and high value or where parties external to Deakin are involved in developing the procurement scope/brief or evaluating responses to a market approach process.

Purchase Requests

(18) Supplier Invoice Payments or Ad Hoc Payments can be used for low value purchases of less than $5,000 (inclusive of GST) where the requirements of clause 15 have been fulfilled. See the Finance SharePoint for more information.

(19) A purchase order must be raised through DeakinUniFi prior to purchasing the goods or services where the value of the procurement exceeds $5,000 (inclusive of GST). See the Finance SharePoint for more information.

(20) Credit card purchases must be undertaken in accordance with the Credit Card procedure.

Alternative Procurement Process

(21) Requests to undertake an alternative procurement process to that set out in clauses 11 to 17 must be submitted to the Procurement Services Manager via the Exemption Request Form, prior to procurement taking place.

(22) The Procurement Services Manager may:

1. seek further information from the person requesting the alternative procurement process;
2. reject the request; or
3. make a recommendation to the Chief Operating Officer that an alternative procurement process apply.

(23) The Chief Operating Officer may approve or reject alternative procurement requests.

Contracts

(24) All contracts must be facilitated in accordance with the requirements of the Contracts policy and procedure.

Section 6 - Definitions

(25) For the purpose of this Procedure:

1. approved supplier: an individual supplier or supplier panel/arrangement that has been endorsed for use. A supplier agreement, and the conditions of operation of the agreement, will comply with the requirements of the Procurement policy suite;
2. associates: contractors, consultants, volunteers, visiting appointees and visitors to the University;
3. goods and services: as defined in the Procurement policy;
4. market approach: as defined in the Procurement policy;
5. probity plan: a process plan to ensure that probity issues are considered prior to the start of a procurement process, including where that procurement is sensitive, of high value, of high risk, subject to a high degree of public scrutiny or involves a broad range of diverse stakeholders;
6. procurement category plan: a plan that aligns business objectives with a strategic one to three year approach to a procurement category such that value is maximised, risk is minimised and the supply of goods and/or services in the category are effectively managed;
7. procurement plan: a plan for a specific procurement activity that sets out a statement of the key requirements, an analysis of how the market works, a specific assessment of risk and ultimately a definition of the best procurement strategy to meet the procurement activity’s business objectives;
8. procurement process: a process to conduct a market approach, for example a Request for Quotation, an Expression of Interest, a Request for Information, a Request for Proposal, a Request for Tender;
9. purchase activity: a process of acquiring low value goods or services from an approved supplier or a non-approved supplier that is typically less than $5,000 in aggregated value;
10. restricted category manger:
    1. Infrastructure and Property Group or Campus Services for facilities management and maintenance;
    2. Infrastructure and Property Group for utilities;
    3. eSolutions for information and communications technology (including services, software and hardware);
    4. Infrastructure and Property Group for major construction;
    5. Office of the General Counsel for legal services;
11. value for money: as defined in the Procurement policy.