To assist public sector agencies in conducting their commercial transactions with probity, DTF has produced Best Practice Advice on Probity and the Victorian Government Purchasing Board (VGPB) requires a probity auditor to be engaged for all procurements in excess of $10 million. The procurement process for the new RCH project was assessed against the probity guidelines and requirements set out by DTF and the VGPB.
A probity auditor was appointed for the new RCH project procurement process and a probity plan was developed and approved. The primary task of the probity auditor was to independently assess whether the state ran an open and fair process that complied with the probity plan. The key principles to be assessed were:
• fairness and impartiality
• use of a competitive process
• consistency and transparency of process
• security and confidentiality
• identification and resolution of conflicts of interest
• compliance with government policies as they apply to tendering.
In order to assess whether appropriate records were maintained, we examined probity reports and steering committee minutes.
We viewed all steering committee meeting minutes over the procurement period and are satisfied that the probity auditor was involved at all key stages including the development and finalisation of evaluation criteria, plans and final reports.
Minutes were taken for all briefing meetings with project proponents. These minutes listed topics discussed but did not include a detailed record of discussions held to ensure fairness in the treatment of proponents can be independently monitored and evaluated. This is inconsistent with Partnerships Victoria guidance, which recommends that all meetings be recorded and transcribed.
The probity auditor was invited but was not present at these briefing meetings or workshops with project proponents. This is consistent with Partnerships Victoria guidance which specifies the probity auditor may, but is not required, to attend all proponent meetings.
We reviewed three reports by the probity auditor to the project director. All three reports confirmed that the procurement process had been conducted in accordance with the probity principles established for the tender. We also noted that the reports were consistent with the format specified by the VGPB. In addition, steering committee minutes note that the probity auditor was present at all meetings of the evaluation panel at both EOI and RFP/SNP stages.
We therefore conclude that, overall, the expected standards of probity were maintained and enforced for this major public sector project procurement.