This Direction deals with procurement of goods and services by or for a government agency within the meaning of the Public Works and Procurement Act 1912.

This Direction does not deal with the procurement of construction or infrastructure.

Under this Direction, it is mandatory for each NSW Government principal department to progressively publish a Strategic Procurement Outlook Statement and Procurement Contact Information on the NSW Government’s eTendering website from 31 March 2014 onwards.
A Strategic Procurement Outlook Statement outlines the role of the agency and major or strategic initiatives from which the agency expects procurements may be generated over the next three years.

Procurement Contact Information contains telephone and email contact points for enquiries related to the procurement undertaken by the agency.

The principal department’s Procurement Plan may cover some or all agencies or entities within the agency cluster, at the discretion of the secretary of the principal department.  Where a principal department’s Procurement Plan does not cover an agency or entity, it becomes the responsibility of the agency head or chief executive officer of the excluded agency/entity to publish a separate Procurement Plan on the eTendering website.

As a matter of good practice, agencies are encouraged to consider publishing significant planned procurements, including a brief description of anticipated procurements planned for the following three years.

Accredited agencies separately reporting planned procurements to the NSW Office Finance and Services are relieved of that responsibility where this information is published on the eTendering website.

The Procurement Policy Framework will provide further guidance about how Procurement Plans will operate.

NSW Government agencies who engage in procurement must continue to comply with the disclosure obligations under Division 5 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 by uploading the required tender and contract information to the eTenderingwebsite.

This Direction was approved by the NSW Procurement Board on 13 November 2013 and takes effect from 1 January 2014 for a period of two years.