How to achieve value for money

When buying for Queensland Government, you have a responsibility to ensure all procurement decisions achieve value for money.

The Queensland Procurement Policy 2023 (QPP 2023) defines value for money as the best available outcome for money spent. To achieve value for money, relevant government objectives and targets, whole-of-life costs and non-cost factors set out in Principle 1 of the QPP 2023 must be considered.

Value for money decisions must consider:

• relevant government economic, ethical, social and environmental objectives and targets including but not limited to local benefits; and Best Practice Principles (for projects where the Best Practice Principles apply)
• whole-of-life costs
• non-cost factors.

Consider value for money throughout the entire procurement process:

• Invest in up-front planning.
• Give advance notice and undertake early engagement.
• Include value for money in objectives and outcomes.
• Evaluate offers for value for money.
• Select the offer that demonstrates best overall value for money.
• Drive value for money through the life of the contract.

Value for money considerations

• Look at broader community benefits—are there opportunities to improve economic, ethical, social and environmental outcomes?
  
  Examples
  • Economic—increasing jobs regionally or increasing spend with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander businesses.
  • Ethical – applying requirements regarding the Ethical Supplier Threshold, Queensland Government Supplier Code of Conduct 2023 and where applicable, the Ethical Supplier Mandate
  • Social—workplace policies aimed at domestic and family violence initiatives, or social enterprises.
  • Environmental—increasing environmental outcomes and sustainability.
• Make it easy for industry to get involved:
  • Give the market advance notice.
  • Ensure local suppliers are given a full and fair opportunity to bid.
  • Take advantage of local capability.
• Evaluate offers against value for money criteria:
  • Factor in costs such as transactional, logistics and maintenance expenses.
  • Ensure the good or service is 'fit for purpose'.
  • Look at a supplier's capability such as management, financial viability and previous performance.
• Drive value for money through the life of the contract:
  • Work together to continually improve processes.
  • Collect and analyse performance data against agreed key performance indicators.
  • Check requirements are being met.
  • Proactively identify and manage issues.

Contact

For general procurement queries, email betterprocurement@epw.qld.gov.au.