It has been a momentous year for procurement in two key areas.
We have seen the enactment of both Commonwealth and NSW state modern slavery legislation in Australia, reflecting a growing awareness for the need to address modern slavery both domestically and internationally.
The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) recently passed both houses of parliament and now awaits royal assent as the final step to enactment.
The laws require entities in Australia that have an annual consolidated revenue of more than $100 million to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, and describe their actions to address those risks.
NSW has also introduced similar legislation to combat this issue, although there are some interesting differences between the two regimes which we expect to see further fleshed out next year.
The other significant change in procurement this year is the passing of the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018 (Cth) which (once commenced) will provide suppliers with a statutory platform to challenge a government procurement process in the Federal Court of Australia or Federal Circuit Court of Australia for a breach of the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs).
This is the first time in Australia that tenderers will have a statutory avenue to challenge government procurement; no longer having to rely on existing remedies for breach of process contract, misleading and deceptive conduct or judicial review under administrative law.
As well as these significant legislative changes there is also increased pressure on business and government to conduct procurement using sustainable processes, especially since the world's first International Standard for sustainable procurement - ISO 20400 – was published last year.
Looking forward, both public and private organisations must now be more acutely aware of the consequences of choices they make regarding what to buy, how to buy it and who to buy it from.
This publication does not deal with every important topic or change in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you have found this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact one of the named individuals listed.