Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are a key form of procurement for the delivery of major infrastructure projects throughout Australia. PPP procurement has been used to successfully deliver many large and complex projects. In line with the maturing of the Australian PPP market, Infrastructure Australia, in conjunction with the Australian, State and Territory Governments and the private sector, has recently developed the National Public Private Partnership Policy and Guidelines. This work should facilitate the harmonisation of PPP procurement processes nationally, encourage consistency and achieve efficiency for both Governments and market participants.
However, private sector participants continue to identify high bid costs, lengthy procurement processes and inconsistent and/or overly restrictive probity requirements as aspects of the process that are of continuing concern. Additionally, several organisations, including some with significant international PPP experience, have expressed concern about perceived barriers to their participation in Australian PPP projects.
Accordingly, a priority next step for Infrastructure Australia in its role of facilitating continuing improvement in infrastructure delivery is to identify and address inefficiencies in the procurement of PPPs relating to unnecessarily high bid costs and barriers to competition. It has appointed KPMG to undertake a formal "Review of Barriers to Competition and Efficiency in the Procurement of PPPs".