ABSTRACT
Within the complex federal system of government in Australia, widely varying public procurement policies and practices illustrate the tensions that exist in a governmental system where public procurement is managed independently at national (federal), state (sub-national) and local (municipal) government level. Procurement reform has been a feature of public sector reform in Australia for almost two decades in each of these jurisdictions. However, the principal focus of this case study is the reform of public procurement in Western Australia, which has pursued an active campaign designed to enhance public procurement through the combined strategies of developing electronic marketplaces, enhancing the skills of procurement staff, and improving procurement evaluation and processes.
