1001.0 - Annual Report - ABS Annual Report, 2001-02  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/10/2002   
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Contents >> Section 6 - Appendixes >> Appendix 6 - Consultancy services

Policy on selection and engagement of consultants

ABS policy on selection and engagement of consultants is consistent with Commonwealth Procurement Guideline No. 13, Contracting for Consultancy Services, and is contained in the ABS Purchasing Manual.


Selection procedures

The ABS selects and engages consultants in a way that is consistent with the objectives of ‘open and effective competition’ and ‘value for money’. The ABS identifies qualified and available consultants on the basis of open tender, selective tender, successful tender for a similar project, previous work done and known or assessed capability, as appropriate in each case.


Purposes for which consultants were engaged in 2001-02

The purposes for which consultants were engaged by the ABS in 2001-02 have been classified into nine main categories. These are shown in the table below. In all categories, the predominant reasons for the use of consultancy services were the need for specialised skills and to allow efficiency and flexibility in operations by making additional personnel available.


Total consultancies under engagement in 2001-02

The total number of consultancy services engaged during 2001-02 was 40, of which 32 were let in 2001-02. The total value of these consultancy services was approximately $1.0m, a considerable reduction on recent years. The number of consultancies engaged and the total expenditure, with subtotals for the main purpose for which they were engaged, during 2001-02, are shown in the following table:

6.1 CONSULTANCY SERVICES CONTRACTS ENGAGED BY THE ABS, 2001-02: SUMMARY
Consultancies
Expenditure in 2001-02
Purpose
number
$
Accounting Services
3
75,123
Audit
1
3,250
Human Resources
1
18,876
Information Technology
10
298,206
Management
4
132,859
Publishing
2
45,520
Statistical
13
292,078
Training and Development
3
43,423
Marketing/Public Relations
3
109,318
Total
40
1,018,653

6.2 CONSULTANCY SERVICES CONTRACTS ENGAGED BY THE ABS, 1998-99 TO 2001-02
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
Expenditure ($)
2,371,704
3,038,568
1,861,149
1,018,653
Consultancies (number)
88
59
45
40


Consultancies let in 2001-02 with expenditure of $10,000 or more

Consultants engaged for consultancy services contracts let in 2001-02 with expenditure of $10,000 or more are listed in the following table. The project for which each was engaged and the expenditure are also shown. The consultants are listed under the main purpose for which they were engaged. The justification for recourse to consultancy arrangements, and the type of tender used, is indicated in each case by an alphabetic and a numeric symbol, which is explained in a key at the end of the table.

6.3 CONSULTANCY SERVICES CONTRACTS LET TO THE VALUE OF $10,000 OR MORE
Justification
Expenditure in
and type of
2001-02
tender
$
Accounting Services
Assist Pty Ltd
Defining and documenting accounts receivable and subscription management business processes
41,251
(a,b,c) (5)
Australian Valuation Office
ABS hardware assets revaluation
21,800
(a) (3)
Sinclair Knight Merz
Development of a detailed data specification for inclusion in new contracts
12,073
(a) (5)
Human Resources
Quality Management Solutions
Consultancy associated with a breach of the APS Code of Conduct
18,876
(a) (5)
Information Technology
AST Operations Pty Ltd
Advice and assistance on software
14,520
(b) (2)
Dimension Data
Consultancy service in relation to security monitoring and auditing
48,840
(d) (3)
Project management consultancy in relation to Windows 2000
124,250
(a) (3)
Eucalypt Software Partners
Consultancy on software
16,630
(a) (5)
Power Quality Technologies Pty Ltd
Consultancy in regard to the new data centre in ABS House
59,090
(a) (5)
Management
Australian Government Solicitor
Update of ABS Purchasing Manual
14,054
(c) (2)
Value Creating Environments Pty Ltd
Design and facilitation of Business Statistics Innovation Program Workshop
112,073
(a,d,e) (5)
Marketing/Public Relations
Jim Payne and Associates Pty Ltd
Provision of inhouse public relations consultancy services
46,716
(a) (5)
User Insite Pty Ltd
Consultancy to provide AusStats product research
29,854
(a,d) (2)
Publishing
von Reibnitz, Fred
Editorial service
37,520
(a) (5)
Statistical
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
Review of existing Australian and international measures of urban density
37,488
(d) (3)
Cunneen, Chris
Review of the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics
44,825
(a) (2)
Geoff Minter and Associates - Research
Cognitive research of form design for the 2006 Census of Population and Housing
27,844
(c) (3)
South Australian Centre for Economic Studies
Develop an Information Model of the demand for rural and regional statistics
22,110
(a) (5)
Imhoff, Trevor
Consultancy Services for Census and Geography work program
49,586
(a) (6)
University of Wollongong
Research project on seasonal adjustment
22,000
(a) (5)
Training and Development
D’Arcy Consulting Group
Provision of Professional Efficiency Program training
35,750
(a) (5)
Key
Justification for recourse to consultancy arrangements:
(a) Need for specialised skills.
(b) Need for access to the latest technology and experience in its application.
(c) Lack of available in-house resources.
(d) Need for an independent study.
(e) Need for a change agent or facilitator.

Type of Tender
(1) Public tender
(2) Restricted tender
(3) Request for quotation
(4) Staged procurement process
(5) Direct Negotiation
(6) Verbal quotation		Table excludes standard services such as:
- internal audit
- scribes
- medical counselling, and other individual consultations
- presentation of standard/pre-existing training courses
- travel contracts, IT Help Desk and IT maintenance contracts



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