Process for lodgement

If you wish to lodge a dispute or complaint about a procurement process, you should write to the Authority complaints officer at:

chieffinanceofficer@gbrmpa.gov.au

You should provide details of the basis of your dispute or complaint, including:

• A clear statement regarding the nature of your complaint (i.e. what you consider was defective in the procurement process)
• Copies of, or references to, information to support the complaint
• Where applicable, a clear statement of which paragraph(s) of the Commonwealth Procurement Rules you believe has been breached
• Whether you intend the complaint to be a formal complaint under section 18 of the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018 (the GPJR Act)
• A statement about what you wish to achieve from the complaint process.
• You should also make yourself aware of RMG-422 which outlines the complaints process under the GPJR Act.

Process for assessment

Once we receive your written complaint we will:

• Acknowledge receipt of your complaint
• Advise you of the expected timeframe for resolution
• Investigate the validity of the complaint
• Notify you of the outcome of our investigation
• Offer a solution if applicable
• Confirm with you whether you consider the complaint to be resolved.

Please note that if you submit a complaint that is determined by the Authority to be a GPJR Act complaint, the procurement will be suspended while the complaint is investigated. However if a Public Interest Certificate has been issued for that complaint, a suspension will not occur.

Open Approaches to Market

All of our open Approaches to Market are available via the AusTender website – the Australian Government’s online procurement information system. AusTender provides centralised publication of all Australian Government business opportunities, annual procurement plans and contracts that have been awarded.

Senate Order on Entity Contracts – Listing for 01 July 2021 to 31 December 2021

Pursuant to the Senate Order for entity contracts, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is required to list contracts to the value of $100,000 or more (GST inclusive) and which:

(a) have not been fully performed as at 31 December 2021, or
(b) which have been entered into during the 12 months prior to 31 December 2021.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s list of contracts is available through the Senate Order Report located on the AusTender website. Some of the contracts listed may contain confidentiality provisions of a general nature that are designed to protect the confidential information of the parties that may be obtained or generated in carrying out the contract. The reasons for including such clauses include:

• ordinary commercial prudence that requires protection of trade secrets, proprietary information and the like, and/or
• protection of other Commonwealth material and personal information.

The accountable authority of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has assured that the listed contracts do not contain any inappropriate confidentiality provisions.

The estimated cost of complying with the Senate Order is $91 and is calculated based on time taken by hourly rate.

Public Interest Certificates

Under the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018 (Cth), certain types of procurement's may be suspended while complaints are being investigated or injunctions are being considered.

Relevant Commonwealth entities, like the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, may issue a public interest certificate in circumstances where they consider that it is not in the public interest for a particular procurement process to be suspended.

See handling complaints under the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Act 2018 on the Department of Finance website for further information on public interest certificates.