Purchasing and procurement procedure

Audience

Department-wide

Purpose

This procedure outlines the process to be followed by all employees when buying goods and services from suppliers external to the department. 

Overview

This procedure details the requirements for conducting purchasing and procurement activities.

This procedure applies to:

• all goods and services purchased from external suppliers using department or school funds, irrespective of the funding source e.g., contributions from students, parents, fundraising, sponsorship, etc.
• capital works and infrastructure purchases
• purchases undertaken on behalf of school communities, including by Parent and Citizens’ Associations (P&Cs).

This procedure does not apply to buying or selling real estate.

All activities must be in accordance with the Queensland Procurement Policy’s six principles:

• achieve value for money
• apply a responsible public procurement approach
• behave ethically, and embed integrity, probity and accountability
• be leaders in procurement practice
• collaborate for more effective outcomes
• support strong governance and planning.

Responsibilities

Departmental employees

• comply with this procedure and the purchasing and procurement instructions (DoE employees only) when purchasing goods and services
• comply with this procedure and the contract management instructions (DoE employees only) when managing contracts
• conduct purchasing or procurement activities with integrity, accountability and transparency
• disclose any conflicts of interest, in accordance with the departments conflict of interest procedure
• not accept any gifts or benefits, related to purchasing or procurement activities 
• not accept or consider the offer of sponsorship within a tendering process
• refrain from endorsing any individual, business, company, or supplier for their products or services
• report any situations of potential fraud, corruption, misconduct or policy breaches related to purchasing or procurement activities.

Purchasing delegates and procurement delegates

• ensure all activities comply with relevant policies and procedures
• ensure all purchasing or procurement documentation is retained
• not acting as both the Purchasing/Procurement Delegate and Financial Delegate for the same activity (except for corporate card transactions)
• only approve purchasing exemption requests within their delegation limits
• endorse contract extensions or variations before final approval by the Financial Delegate
• provide advice and guidance on the purchasing or procurement process and matters
• approve and facilitate purchasing and procurement activities within their delegation limits
• serve as the contact point for questions about department supply arrangements.

Financial delegates

• approve spending (expenditure) on goods or services within their delegation limits
• authorise entering into a contract, as contract owner, within their delegation limits
• approve contract extensions and variations within their delegation limits, if they were the original contract signing delegate
• not act as both the Purchasing/Procurement Delegate and Financial Delegate for the same activity (except for corporate card transactions).

Procurement Services

In addition to departmental employees and purchasing and procurement delegates responsibilities, Procurement Services are responsible for:

• developing strategies and setting timeframes to achieve purchasing outcomes for high value activities
• facilitating the procurement processes for high value activities
• facilitating the establishment of new supply arrangements.
• addressing and resolving escalated complaints that cannot be resolved locally.

Chief Procurement Officer

• assigning and removing purchasing or procurement delegations to nominated positions and appropriately trained officers on behalf of the Director-General.

Process

Identify appropriate delegates

Employees wishing to buy goods or services must determine who has the authority to facilitate and approve the buying of goods and services.

As per the Purchasing and procurement delegations (DoE employees only), departmental employees that have completed either low value or intermediate purchasing training (DoE employees only), (purchasing delegates) are able to facilitate the buying of goods and services that are:

• Low value:
  •  under $5,000 (excluding GST)
• Intermediate value:
  • Under $100,000 (excluding GST) and not from a supply arrangement.
  • Under $500,000 (excluding GST) within a supply arrangement.

Procurement delegates within Procurement Services, and appropriately trained and approved employees, are able to facilitate the buying goods and services that are:

• High value:
  • Over $100,000 (excluding GST) not from a supply arrangement.
  • Over $500,000 (excluding GST) within a supply arrangement.

The applicable Financial delegate is required to confirm the budget available and is to approve the expenditure for the goods and /or services being purchased.

Departmental employees are to contract manage all purchases. Information to support contract management is available on OnePortal and through Contract management training (DoE employees only).

Determine purchase option

Employees must determine the appropriate option for their purchase. Employees should use existing supply arrangements (must use if mandatory) in the first instance, but can proceed to obtaining quotes if no appropriate supply arrangement is available. Process details depends on the value of the purchase. In a situation of genuine emergency, employees may bypass these steps.

These options are set out below and summarised in the Workflow – Purchasing Options.

Genuine urgency

• Delegates can only bypass the below supply arrangements and quotation processes in situations of genuine urgency: that is, a realised or high probability of a health, safety, or security risk which must be rectified within a very limited timeframe. This is also known as an emergency purchase.
• Further information and related forms are at Genuine urgency situations (DoE employees only).

Sourcing a supplier: Supply arrangements

• For non-urgent purchases, employees must first check if there is an existing supply arrangement that is appropriate for their purchase. Where there is a mandatory arrangement, it must be used.
• Purchasing from a supply arrangement is the department’s preferred purchasing method. Existing arrangements and required forms are at Supply arrangements (DoE employees only).
• Where a supply arrangement requires a buyer to obtain quotes, the following thresholds apply unless the arrangement’s buyer’s guide states otherwise. (e.g., quotes are not required when buying off a product/service catalogue of items).

Sourcing a supplier: Minimum quote requirements

• Where there is no available or suitable supply arrangement, an employee must use the following minimum quote requirements to source a supplier. Full, fair and reasonable opportunity must be given to capable and competitive suppliers.
• The required steps and resources for each purchasing threshold are linked in the Workflow documents. Further information is at Minimum quote requirements (DoE employees only).

Follow the purchasing and procurement process

All purchases, across all threshold levels, contain five stages of purchasing. Some of these stages are conducted concurrently e.g., simple and lite purchases. The workflow documents listed above show how the phases are conducted for each purchasing threshold.

The five stages are:

1. PLAN:

Identifying:

• the needs required
• applicable purchasing process required
• availability of supply arrangements
• potential suppliers
• delegates required 
• department policies to be considered
• the risks associated
• probity, and accountability obligations

2. SOURCE:

• finalising requirements
• finalising evaluation criteria
• identifying mandatory requirements
• approaching the market (suppliers) in accordance with the relevant process.

3. EVALUATE: 

• assessing quotes received against pre-set criteria
• demonstrating value for money is being achieved
• documenting the decision-making process, to select a successful supplier

4. AWARD:

• confirming funding and approval to proceed with a purchase
• identifying the correct payment method
• formalising the agreement between the department and the successful supplier for the supply of good and services (a contract)
• notifying unsuccessful suppliers

5. MANAGE:

• monitoring the provision of agreed deliverables
• managing variations (if required) in accordance with department processes
• managing concerns, issues or complaints that may arise between the department and the supplier
• verifying the receipt of agreed deliverables
• verifying invoices are correct, to enable timely processing of payments
• completing applicable contract close-out activities
• ensuring all related documentation (e.g., approvals, quotes, contracts, correspondence) are retained in accordance with department requirements

Detailed processes, workflow, and forms are available via the Purchasing and procurement instructions (DoE employees only) and Contract management instructions (DoE employees only) on OnePortal.

For advice, contact Procurement and Facilities Services.

Use of contractors and consultants

Contractors and consultants should not be used for long-term engagements that replace 'core' public service functions unless there is no available alternative.

Before any process for a consultancy can commence, support of the consultancy must be obtained from the Director General (DG). Senior management will be required to provide evidence of the Director General’s support, if and as requested.

Managing complaints

Any complaint received from a supplier in relation to a purchasing or procurement activity must be registered and managed in accordance with the department’s Customer complaints management procedure.

A resolution should be sought at the local level in the first instance. If a complaint is unable to be resolved at the local level, either party can complete the Purchasing and procurement complaint form, and refer it to Procurement and Facilities Services.

Definitions

Legislation

• Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 (Qld)
• Financial Accountability Act 2009 (Qld)
• The Queensland Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)

Delegations/Authorisations

• Finance delegations (DoE employees only)
• Purchasing and procurement delegations

Other resources

Department of Education

• Appropriate and ethical use of public resources policy
• Conflict of interest procedure
• Contract management instructions (DoE employees only)
• Financial Management Practice Manual (DoE employees only)
• Purchasing and procurement instructions (DoE employees only)

Whole of Government

• Building and construction training policy
• Contract management framework
• Ethical supplier mandate
• Ethical supplier threshold
• ICT SME participation scheme policy
• Procuring during an emergency
• Queensland indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) procurement policy
• Queensland information technology contracting (QITC) framework
• Queensland Procurement Policy (QPP)
• Queensland procurement strategy

Supporting documents and procurement related resources

• Accessibility compliance in procurement (DoE employees only)
• Procurement services operational plan (DoE employees only)
• Ordering and payment matrix (DoE employees only)
• Purchasing and procurement (DoE employees only)
• Purchasing training (DoE employees only)
• Whole-of-government supply arrangements

Superseded versions

Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.

9.0 Purchasing and procurement

10.0 Purchasing and procurement