Definitions
a
- Accountable officer - has the meaning conferred by the Financial Accountability Act 2009. For the purposes of this policy, this term also includes Chief Executive Officers of government-owned corporations, statutory bodies and special purpose vehicles.
- Agency - means, for the purposes of this policy:
- A department or a statutory body as those expressions are defined in the Financial Accountability Act 2009
- An entity declared by regulation to be a government- owned corporation under the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993
- Special purpose vehicles as established from 1 July 2010 and existing special purpose vehicles which are required to comply with the Queensland Procurement Policy by their respective constitutions.
b
- Breach - breach of the Ethical Supplier Mandate or Ethical Supplier Threshold, where a supplier has been determined to be non-compliant with the requirements of the policy.
- For the purposes of this policy and all corresponding documentation, a breach will remain alleged until the final decision maker considers it confirmed.
- Budget sector agency - means, for the purposes of this policy, an entity declared to be a department pursuant to Section 14 of the Public Service Act 2008. It also includes the Electoral Commission of Queensland, Office of the Governor, Public Service Commission, Queensland Audit Office, Queensland Ombudsman and Queensland Parliamentary Service.
- Business day - A day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday in Queensland.
c
- Category - is the grouping of similar goods or services with common demand drivers and a similar supply base.
- Category management - is a lifecycle approach to managing spend that groups categories together and aligns the approach to the characteristics of the category.
- Common-use supply arrangement - means an arrangement intended for whole-of-government use established between the principal and the successful offeror (including without limitation a standing offer arrangement, a register of pre-qualified suppliers, panel arrangement or preferred supplier arrangement).
- Compelling evidence - Compelling evidence of a breach having occurred (e.g., pay slips indicating underpayment of wages or superannuation, or ATO records, bank statements) regardless of whether the evidence has or has not been considered by any regulator or court, or whether or not there is any relevant regulator.
- A non-compliance can be dealt with under the Mandate based on compelling evidence, even where the non-compliance standard is breach of a law that has not been established by a court or regulator (including as set out in the Threshold). The same applies in the case of breaches of the Local Benefits Test or other contractual requirements where there is no regulator.
- A decision regarding imposing a penalty under the Mandate can be made where compelling evidence exists for relevant breaches. Procedural fairness will still apply and suppliers will have a chance to challenge an allegation or rectify a breach.
- Complainant - The person who has made a complaint regarding an alleged breach of the Mandate.
d
- Date of issue - The date of issue means the day the notice was provided to the supplier where the method of issue results in immediate receipt (for example, in person, email).
- Where same day delivery is not possible (i.e., post), the date of issue is the date that is five (5) business days after the notice was posted.
- Declared by the Minister - Declared in writing by the Minister responsible for the category, in consultation with:
- the Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen and Minister for Public Works and Procurement, and
- the Premier and Minister for Trade.
- Deputy Director- General – Procurement - The Deputy Director-General – Procurement (DDG – Procurement) of Queensland Government Procurement within the Department of Energy and Public Works.
- Director-General of the procuring agency - The Director-General, responsible for the contract during which the supplier engaged in the non-compliant conduct.
e
- Employee - means, for the purposes of this policy, any employee of an agency whether permanent, temporary, full-time, part-time or casual, and any volunteer, student, contractor, consultant or anyone who works in any other capacity for an agency.
- Ethical Supplier Threshold - The Ethical Supplier Threshold described in the Queensland Procurement Policy, that is, whether a supplier has:
- contravened a civil remedy provision of Chapter 2 or Chapter 3 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), or committed an offence against the Fair Work Act
- contravened a civil remedy provision of Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016, or committed an offence against the Industrial Relations Act, or failed to pay employment related levies, or other payments, established under Queensland legislation
- failed to make superannuation contributions on behalf of employees in accordance with law
- purported to treat employees as independent contractors, where they are not
- required persons who would otherwise be employees to provide an Australian Business Number so that they could be treated as independent contractors
- engaged persons on unpaid work trials or as unpaid interns, where they should be treated as employees
- entered into an arrangement for the provision of labour hire services with a person who is not licensed under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017, or a supplier who is an unlicensed supplier under the Act
- paid employee wages below those provided for in an applicable modern award.
f
- Full, fair and reasonable - has the meaning as defined in the Queensland Charter for Local Content administered by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.
g
- Goods and services - include all property (except for real property) and all types of services including building and construction services, and infrastructure.
- Government’s objectives or objectives of the government - may be stated in legislation, whole-of-government procurement policy and procurement-related policy, whole-of-government procurement plans, directions or formal agreements between government and agencies.
- Guidelines - A document detailing information and guidance that assists a user to fulfil a policy requirement or understand concepts about a related process.
- Guides may include specific steps that should be followed to complete a given process in support of a policy requirement
l
- Large statutory body - means a statutory body where either of the following criteria apply:
- net operating result in excess of $5 million, or
- net assets in excess of $75 million.
- Lead agency - is an agency responsible for managing common categories of expenditure across two or more agencies.
- Limited offer - method is a procurement method where the agency invites a supplier/s of its choice to offer.
- Local supplier - means a supplier of goods or services that maintains a workforce whose usual place of residency (i.e. where they normally live, sleep and eat) is located within a 125 kilometre (km) radius of where the good or service is to be supplied. If a capable local supplier does not exist within the 125 kilometre radius, the radius should be extended progressively to the local region, then Queensland, then outside of Queensland, until a suitable supplier is identified.
- Low value procurement - Low value procurement is defined by an agency’s existing purchasing threshold, where this value is less than $20,000 (per purchase or order).
- Where an agency’s low value procurement threshold exceeds $20,000, that agency’s definition of low value spend will be capped at $20,000 for the purpose of the Mandate and the Threshold.
-
o
- Open offer - method is a procurement method where all interested suppliers may submit an offer.
p
- Policy requirement - A requirement of:
- the Queensland Procurement Policy (QPP)
- the Queensland Government Procurement Strategy
- procurement-related policies and instruments as listed in Schedule 3 to the QPP
- procurement-related guidance and codes approved by the DDG – Procurement Queensland Government Procurement or a contractual term, designed to effect a policy requirement, in a Queensland Government contract, a subcontract to a Queensland Government contract, or a contract in a supply chain supporting a Queensland Government contract or a requirement of a law or regulation specified in this Mandate.
- Pre-qualified Supplier - A prequalified supplier means a supplier registered with:
- The Prequalification System of the Capital Works Management Framework
- The National Prequalification System for Civil (Road and Bridge) Construction Contracts
- Arrangements administered by General Goods and Services, Department of Housing and Public Works
- QBuild Register
- Pre-qualified supplier - A pre-qualified supplier means a supplier registered with:
- the Prequalification System of the Capital Works Management Framework
- the National Prequalification System for Civil (Road and Bridge) Construction Contracts
- arrangements administered by General Goods and Services, Department of Energy and Public Works; or
- QBuild as a prequalified supplier.
- Procurement - encompasses the whole process of obtaining goods and services. Beginning with the identification of needs, procurement can include the functions of planning, design, standards determination, specification writing, selection of suppliers, financing, contract management, disposals and other related functions. For clarity, ‘procurement’ under this policy does not include ‘grants’ as defined in the Financial Accountability Handbook administered by Queensland Treasury.
- Procurement-related policy - is a government policy or instrument, excluding the Queensland Procurement Policy related guidelines and guidance, that influences or impacts procurement activities, practices and decisions. A list of current procurement-related policies is at www.qld.gov.au/procurement.
- Procuring agency - An agency subject to the QPP, including a budget sector agency, a statutory body, special purpose vehicle or government owned corporation.
- The ‘department sponsoring the project’ for the purposes of the Capital Works Management Framework is the ‘procuring agency’ for the purposes of this Mandate.
- For the purposes of this Mandate, the procuring agency is the agency responsible for the contract during which the supplier’s non-compliance occurred
- Purchasing - is the acquisition process for goods and services through purchasing, leasing and licensing and this expression extends to standing offer or similar arrangements by which terms and conditions of purchase are determined.
q
- Queensland Government contract - A contract between any person and the Crown in the right of the State of Queensland or a related entity, including deeds for common-use supply arrangements and other arrangements as declared by the DDG – Procurement.
- Also includes any contractual term in a contract that is designed to give effect to a policy requirement in a Queensland Government contract, a subcontract to a Queensland Government contract, or a contract in a supply chain supporting a Queensland Government contract.
s
- Sanction - A sanction is a penalty that prevents the supplier from doing business with Queensland Government for a set period of time of up to 12 months. Sanctions will be determined by the decision maker on advice from the Panel.Sanctions can include:
- suspending a supplier’s prequalification for a defined period; and
- making a supplier ineligible for contract award for a defined period; and
- suspending a supplier from any Queensland Government panel or contracting framework for a defined period; and/or
- not exercising contract extension options; or
- a suspended sanctions penalty, pending successful implementation of any recommended corrective actions.
- Selective offer method - is a procurement method where suppliers that have met pre-established criteria are invited to offer.
- Significant procurement - includes goods and services identified by the agency as being high expenditure and/ or for which there is a high degree of business risk.
- Small and medium enterprise - means a business employing less than 200 people.
- Special purpose vehicle - means, for the purposes of this policy, a company incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) that is under the control of a Queensland Government department, and which is established for a specific purpose such as delivery of infrastructure projects. For the purpose of this definition a ‘company’ does not include a government-owned corporation.
- Supplier - means an enterprise known to be capable of supplying required goods and/or services. It includes manufacturers, stockists, resellers, merchants, distributors, consultants and contractors.
- Supplier - A contractor or consultant or other party to a Queensland Government contract, other than the Crown and its related entities, or a subcontractor to a supplier.
- The definition of ‘supplier’ includes subcontractors within the supply chain.
- The principal supplier under contract to the procuring agency is responsible for conduct of suppliers within their supply chain.
- Suppliers may be penalised for breaches by their subcontractors, except where the supplier has taken reasonable action to prevent the breach by their subcontractors, in addition to any penalties applied to the subcontractor.
t
- Tripartite Procurement Advisory Panel (the Panel) - An expert panel of knowledgeable nominees, with equal representation from employers and unions, that is chaired by an independent government appointee having substantial experience in relevant fields.
- Initial breaches are considered by three (3) standing members reflecting equal industry representation and the independent chair. Appeals will be considered by five (5) members of the Panel not involved in the original consideration, with the exception of the chair.
