Consultants

The department engages consultants when it requires specialist expertise or when independent research, review or assessment is required. Decisions to engage consultants during 2016–17 were made in accordance with the PGPA Act and related regulations, including the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and relevant internal policies.

During 2016–17, the department entered into 188 new consultancy contracts involving total actual expenditure of $12.0 million. In addition, 124 ongoing consultancy contracts were active during 2016–17, involving total actual expenditure of $14.2 million (see Table 11).

Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultants. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website.

Table 11: Expenditure on consultancy contracts, 2014–15 to 2016–17