The following definitions apply for the purposes of these CPRs:
Accountable Authority – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Amendment – changes to a contract, including options that have been exercised, contract extensions, variations and renewals.
Annual procurement plan – a document published on AusTender through which relevant entities provide a short summary of their strategic procurement outlook for the coming year and information on significant procurements they plan to undertake.
Approach to market – any notice inviting potential suppliers to participate in a procurement which may include a request for tender, request for quote, request for expression of interest, request for information or request for proposal.
Note: the acronym ‘ATM’ is used on AusTender and other procurement documents to reference an approach to market.
AusTender – the central web-based facility for the publication of Australian Government procurement information, including business opportunities, annual procurement plans and contracts awarded.
Commercial goods and services – commercial goods and services are of a type that are offered for sale to, and routinely purchased by, non-government buyers for non-government purposes, including any modifications common in the commercial marketplace and any minor modifications not common in the commercial marketplace.
Commodity market – a recognised exchange dealing in generic, largely unprocessed, goods that can be processed and resold.
Commonwealth entity – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Conditions for participation – minimum conditions that potential suppliers must demonstrate compliance with, in order to participate in a procurement process or for submissions to be considered. This may include a requirement to undertake an accreditation or validation procedure.
Construction services – procurements related to the construction of buildings and procurements of works as defined by the Public Works Committee Act 1969.
Contract – an arrangement, as defined in section 23(2) of the PGPA Act, for the procurement of goods and/or services under which relevant money is payable or may become payable. Note: this includes standing offers and panels.
Contracts for labour hire – a contract under which a relevant entity engages an individual to provide labour, when the individual is engaged either directly or through a firm which primarily exists to provide the services of only that individual. This includes the appointment of an eminent individual to a special role by an Accountable Authority, or the appointment of a person or persons by an Accountable Authority to a governance committee (for example, an audit committee, ethics committee or steering committee), but does not include the engagement of consultants.
Corporate Commonwealth entities – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Days – means calendar days.
End date (in a contract) – can be defined by reference to a specific date or by reference to a specific event.
Evaluation criteria – the criteria that are used to evaluate the compliance and/or relative ranking of submissions. Evaluation criteria must be clearly stated in the request documentation.
Goods – every type of right, interest or thing which is legally capable of being owned. This includes, but is not restricted to, physical goods and real property as well as intangibles such as intellectual property, contract options and goodwill.
GST – The Goods and Services Tax, as defined by the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999.
Indigenous Procurement Policy – a procurement-connected policy as defined in paragraphs 4.9 and 4.10.
Limited tender – involves a relevant entity approaching one or more potential suppliers to make submissions, when the process does not meet the rules for open tender.
Minimum content and format requirements – criteria that a tenderer’s submission is required to meet, when responding to an approach to market, to be eligible for further consideration in a procurement process.
Multi-stage procurement – involves an initial approach to market followed by one or more subsequent approaches to market (for example, inviting expressions of interest followed by a request for tender).
Non-corporate Commonwealth entities – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Officials – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Open approach to market – any notice inviting all potential suppliers to participate in a procurement which may include a request for tender, request for quote, request for expression of interest, request for information and request for proposal.
Open tender – involves publishing an open approach to market and inviting submissions. This includes multi-stage procurements, provided the first stage is an open approach to market.
Potential supplier – an entity or person who may respond to an approach to market.
Procurement – refer to paragraphs 2.7 to 2.9.
Procurement thresholds – refer to paragraph 9.7.
Public resources – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Relevant money – as defined in section 8 of the PGPA Act.
Relevant entity – non-corporate Commonwealth entities and prescribed corporate Commonwealth entities (listed in section 30 of the PGPA Rule) that must comply with the CPRs when performing duties related to procurement.
Reported contract – a contract published on AusTender.
Reporting thresholds – the value at which any contract must be reported, either due to the initial value being at, or above, the reporting threshold, or as the result of contract amendments changing the value to be at, or above the reporting threshold.
Request documentation – documentation provided to potential suppliers to enable them to understand and assess the requirements of the procuring relevant entity and to prepare appropriate and responsive submissions. This general term includes documentation for expressions of interest, open tender and limited tender.
Research and development – research is described as systematic enquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover facts or principles. Research includes surveys, market research, scientific research and educational research. Development applies to the function of creating/producing new and improved products, devices, processes or services. Development also extends to design, proof of concept and the production of prototypes.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) – – an Australian or New Zealand firm with fewer than 200 full-time equivalent employees. When assessing the number of employees a firm has, employees of any associated entities (as defined in s 50AAA of the Corporations Act 2001) to the firm are included. Associated entities to a firm include a firm’s parent company, a firm’s subsidiaries, and any related bodies corporate to the firm.
Specification – a description of the features of the goods and services to be procured.
Standards – means a document approved by a recognised body such as Standards Australia, the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission or the International Telecommunication Union that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for goods or services, or related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory, unless the goods or services are subject to regulation by government.
Standing offer – an arrangement setting out the terms and conditions, including a basis for pricing, under which a supplier agrees to supply specified goods and services to a relevant entity for a specified period.
Submission – any formally submitted response from a potential supplier to an approach to market. Submissions may include tenders, responses to expressions of interest or responses to request for quote.
Supplier – an entity or person who has entered into a contract with the Commonwealth.
Tenderer – an entity or person who has responded with a submission to an approach to market.
