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1.39 The figures above show that buyers across the Australian Government do not solely rely upon SSA sellers, with approximately 76% of the spend profile going through the other digital marketplaces and panels.

1.40 In respect of these figures, the review noted the values published on AusTender do not align to the actual spend under the SSAs for the following key reasons:

• Per Procurement Publishing and Reporting Obligations (RMG 423), AusTender values are reported as the potential maximum value of the contract over its initial term, including all options which may be exercised. In practice, this does not provide an acquittal of the actual spend under the contract or reflect the timing of that expenditure.
• AusTender is a Commonwealth procurement reporting tool and does not include any contracts under the SSA established by State and Territory Governments or other non-government organisations.
• Under the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, AusTender reporting is only mandatory for 65% of agencies, comprising 102 Non-corporate Commonwealth Entities as per the PGPA Flipchart and 25 Prescribed corporate Commonwealth entities as per section 30 of the PGPA Rule.
• Respective buyers undertake reporting on AusTender, which can result in contracts not being reported against the SSA SON, including:
  • Agencies may include report against the SON for the marketplace (e.g. Hardware Marketplace) used in the procurement process, rather than the SON relevant to the SSA.
  • Some contracts for IBM with Defence, the ATO, Services Australia and Home Affairs are reported as separate contracts in AusTender, rather than under the SSA SON.
  • The structure of the Microsoft SSA involves providing products and services through Microsoft’s reseller arrangement with Data#3, which are reported on AusTender under Data#3 contract notices rather than against the Microsoft SON reference.

1.41 Further, some sellers expressly constrain the DTA from publishing information, including SSA spends, unless it is already in the public domain. Noting this, however, engagement with the SSA sellers through the review indicates willingness from the SSA sellers to support transparency common in government procurement globally.

1.42 To address the constraints above and to enhance the transparency of the Australian Government's spending on the SSA sellers, the DTA should, in collaboration with the SSA sellers, publish the full value of expenditure under the SSAs for each respective SSA seller.
 

1.46 The following briefly outlines each of these steps:

• Plan: gather information, monitor market trends and competition, engage with buyers and the seller. The DTA works with agencies across the Commonwealth to understand the intricacies of the pre-existing contracts and value of these, using this as a basis to determine the Commonwealth’s bargaining position.
• Negotiate: work with the seller to achieve a mutually-beneficial arrangement, agreeing the contractual structure and specific clauses. By all accounts, this phase comes with significant complexity and effort by both parties.
• Establish: execute and implement the head agreements as standing offers and any contracts (including those contracts centrally managed by the DTA) with the seller and manage the transition of buyers and their contracts to the arrangement, as appropriate.
• Manage: manage the contract, supporting the seller and buyers in its use across the life of the individual buyer contract, and undertake reporting (e.g. from the sellers to the DTA on usage and invoices, or internal to the DTA to monitor the realisation of benefits).
• Close or renewal: preparing for the end of the arrangement by either renegotiating (and returning to the Plan stage above) or assisting buyers to transition off the SSA, finalise any financial obligations, and document lessons learnt.

1.47 Details on the operational costs of this work for DTA are outlined in Costs section.

How the SSAs are funded

1.48 The DTA is funded to establish and maintain the SSAs through two means:

• Core funding is appropriated for the administration of the SSAs.
• The DTA’s additional costs associated with establishing and maintaining certain SSAs are recovered through a Central Administration Fee (CAF), which is established separately for each relevant arrangement. The fees are reviewed twice annually to ensure the DTA achieves a cost-neutral position. (A cost-neutral position means that the net costs to the DTA of running the SSAs (total costs of running the SSAs, less Departmental funding provisioned by government) equals the total CAF collected by the DTA. In essence, the costs are equal to the CAF and Departmental funding.)

1.49 Separately, in certain circumstances, buyers must pay a savings fee which is calculated based on the total contract value. Monies collected in the form of savings fees are temporarily stored in a special account and returned to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the following financial year. (The CRF savings fee is extended to additional arrangements as agreed by the Finance Minister.) These monies cannot be used to fund activities of the DTA.

1.50 Of note, buyers pay either the CAF or the savings fee, not both.

1.51 The CAF and CRF savings fee are paid to the ICT Coordinated Procurement Special Account 2017 which is limited appropriation that allocates funds for specific purposes. The balance of the special account determines the amount available for expenditure, subject to strict rules around the use of the funds. (Appropriate expenditure includes: Administration of the SSAs, pass-through costs, compliance and reporting, development of procurement technology and tools, user research, technical advisory, and staffing costs.) The Australian National Audit Office audits this account annually.

1.52 The following graphic illustrates the interaction between the amount paid to a seller, the CAF or CRF savings fee paid by the buyer and the discount realised.

1.53 The table below summarises the CAF and CRF fees payable. 

1.54 Further details can be found in the Funding model complexity section of this report.

Individuals (not suitable for myGov), business and providers decision-making framework

This decision-making framework helps you determine how to consolidate your access points.

Consolidate generally means to combine or unite things. For example, through migrating an existing service from one place to another or incorporating a new service into an existing access point. 

First, think about your users. Make the most of existing access points by understanding where users already go to access your services.  Start here if your service is for individuals (but not suitable for myGov), businesses or providers.

Next, look at the current digital landscape. Assess and consider where you can consolidate your new service with an existing access point. If this is not an option, investigate how you can migrate existing services into a new access point with the new service.

Then, check for limitations. Consider if there are any challenges making the new services available through an existing access point or with consolidating platforms, portals or services. Could there be technical issues interfacing with legacy systems or legal barriers such as data sharing?

Finally, assess the investment. Determine if consolidating access points is affordable and that the cost is outweighed by the benefits. For example, cost to consolidate services is outweighed by a significantly better experience for users.