The need to coordinate actions of other public sector entities is discussed in chapter 3 of the Partnerships Victoria Contract management guide. To prepare for coordinating the actions of other public sector entities, the contract director should:
• identify which public sector entities/officers, other than the government party, have a role in delivering the obligations of the government party under the contract; and
• consider the best means of coordinating and/or monitoring this involvement.
Once the contract director has gathered information relating to the involvement and obligations of other public sector entities, this information should be used to supplement the contract administration manual.
In some instances, performing the government party's obligations will require extensive coordination by the contract director with other public sector entities. For example, a government party may acquire services from the private party for use by a number of public sector entities, each of which will have a significant role in performing the government party's obligations. In these situations, the procuring government party should develop and enter into:
• a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the relevant public sector entities setting out the general principles for coordinating performance; and
• service level agreements (SLA) with the relevant public sector entities to specify how and when the contract director and the other entities will act to perform specific obligations of the government party.
The MOU and/or SLA should be developed and signed by the chief executive officers of the public sector entities or other appropriate senior officers. The MOU and/or SLA developed and approved by government in the procurement phase will require reviewing and updating as the project moves into and through the service delivery phase.