17th Oct 2018, 7:17 PM – Senate Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill 2017 - Second Reading - Agree with the bill's main idea

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a second time.

Bill's main idea

According to the bills digest:

The Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill 2017 (the Bill) proposes to fill a gap in the current arrangements in administrative law relating to Commonwealth procurement, and to address obligations under relevant free trade agreements, by creating new rules for making and investigating complaints in relation to the contravention of relevant Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs).

Specifically, the Bill:

• provides domestic and foreign tenders/suppliers with a statutory basis to challenge an actual or apprehended Commonwealth procurement decision for a contravention of relevant parts of the CPRs by providing the Federal Court, and the Federal Circuit Court (the Courts) the power to deal with particular procurement disputes (relating to ‘covered procurements’), and grant injunctions or order compensation to aggrieved suppliers for a breach of the relevant CPRs

• makes it mandatory for the aggrieved supplier at first instance, to refer the complaint for investigation by the accountable authority for the relevant Commonwealth entity, before the supplier can bring a complaint before the Courts and

• requires the accountable authority to suspend the procurement while the complaint is being investigated, unless the secretary of that authority has issued a ‘public interest certificate’ for that procurement.