Department of Treasury & Finance Victoria
Across the country, there is a wide variety of procurement guidance and various tools available. The Victorian Department of Treasury & Finance (DTF) engaged Aalto to review the range of procurement guidance and tools in use across Australia, and determine a contemporary view of best practice (including the scope, scale, and process) procurement decision making and guidance, tailored to capital (construction) projects for implementation in Victoria via revised guidance.
Outcomes & Insights
Aalto delivered an update for the Victorian Government procurement guidelines, to sit alongside a revised assessment tool that can be utilised by Victorian departments and agencies who need to consider, examine and select appropriate contracting, staging and financing solutions to fit the strategic requirements of the projects and programs they are seeking to deliver.
There was strong engagement with Victorian Government agencies and departments with respect to the guidance and ensuring the most appropriate process and set of contemporary procurement models was selected and defined.
The revised Victoria Government Procurement Guidance for Public Sector construction was published in 2023, and has been adopted across Victorian Government for planning, business case and approval stages.
Capital Project
Procurement Guidance
Direct Client: Capital Project Procurement Guidance
End Client: Department of Treasury and Finance Victoria
Primary Service: Strategic Advice
Secondary Service: Procurement Support
Sector: Central Agency
Background
The objective was to enhance the literacy and understanding of procurement practice within the department and the whole of Victorian government via accessible and clearly written guidance. The second objective was to improve the risk embodied by capital projects via the development and selection of optimal procurement pathways and decisions.
Our Role
Aalto undertook a significant literature and model review of both Australian and international contemporary practice and guidelines and working with key DTF staff sought to confirm gaps in process, definitions and models that existed.
Evaluating the typical models that were being proposed and utilised across Victoria public sector construction procurement we were able to establish three broad classifications and ten main models of procurement. Importantly we also set to provide the first set of clear directions with respect to packaging and bundling and commercial structuring that had been documented in the Victorian Guidance.
Building off a strong legacy of Victorian and Australian guidance, Aalto stripped back and re-wrote the guidance material to provide a clear and educational set of guidance centred on lifting the level of government and market understanding of procurement models, the interface to government contracts and the risk and cost outcomes.
In addition, an Excel based tool to step parties through the procurement model selection process was developed.