Former federal minister Stuart Robert met with representatives of a tenderer before the start of contract negotiations, contrary to a government department's probity plan and protocols, an audit has found.
The meeting was highlighted in a new auditor-general report on the Home Affairs department's procurement process for a "permissions capability" - a digital system which could be used to process visas, security clearances, permits, accreditations, licences and registrations.
A request for tender was released in October 2020, with eight responses, and Accenture was awarded the deed of standing offer in September 2021.
But the work was ended by mutual agreement in August 2022, after $61.5 million had been committed.
A probity plan and protocols were drafted prior to the request for tender being released, but the auditor-general found "there were shortcomings with the implementation of the probity framework".
"Contrary to the probity plan and protocols, the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business (Mr Robert) held a meeting with personnel from the preferred tenderer before the commencement of contract negotiations. This meeting was not recorded in the probity register."
The meeting with Accenture took place on July 13, 2021, "before contract negotiations with the first preferred tenderer commenced".
Home Affairs told the auditor-general it disagreed the meeting was "contrary to the probity plan and protocols".
The department described the meeting as an "interview", as allowed for under the request for tender, but admitted not recording the meeting in the probity register was "an administrative oversight".
The department had made a hand-written record of the meeting.
"Although probity advice was not explicitly sought regarding whether the meeting should occur at that point in the procurement, a brief was prepared for the secretary (department head) to attend the meeting with then Minister Robert, outlining matters of probity that should apply to discussions," it said.
As well, a representative of the probity adviser attended the meeting.
Accenture told the auditor-general, in its response to the audit tabled in parliament, that during the delivery of the program "the department and Accenture were not always in alignment on what had been delivered and what needed to happen (including department inputs) to complete delivery".
The department said Accenture had "failed to deliver against the representations that Accenture made, however this does not mean the (tender) evaluation was incorrect".
‘At the time of evaluation and decision, the successful tenderer was considered to offer a viable technical solution with the required delivery capability and capacity which was challenged throughout the evaluation process," the department said.
The audit found Home Affairs "employed an open approach to market and the procurement was designed to demonstrate that value for money could be achieved".
"However, the department’s conduct of the procurement reduced its ability to demonstrate that value for money was achieved," the audit report said.
As well, the audit found a "complete and accurate conflict of interest register was not in place and conflict of interest declarations were not obtained from 15 per cent of individuals involved with the procurement".
