Further information, including a definition of "goods and services", can be found on the Buying for Government section of www.purchasing.tas.gov.au.

Refer to Instructions 1201 to 1229 for information in relation to procurement of building and construction and roads and bridges.

A ‘contractor’ is an individual or organisation engaged under a contract (other than as an employee) to provide goods and/or services to an agency. A contractor will usually work under the supervision of an agency manager.

A 'consultant' is a particular type of contractor who is engaged to provide recommendations or specialist or professional advice (or more generally non-manual services) to assist or influence agency decision making. A consultant is normally expected to work without direct supervision, to exercise his or her own judgement, conduct complex research or investigations and provide advice or recommendations that form the basis for agency decision making or the taking of a certain course of action. A consultant is usually engaged by way of a short term or temporary contract. Examples of a consultant include a person or entity engaged to:

• provide advice on training needs and/or to develop training programs;
• assist in the development of an information technology strategic plan and/or to assist with the development of specifications for a system; or
• provide advice on the implementation or financial viability of a government business enterprise.

A 'tender' is an invitation to suppliers to bid on a clearly specified statement of requirements. A 'tender' includes a request for tender, expression of interest, request for proposal and request for information.

A ‘quotation’ is the bid submitted in response to a request for quotation.

A ‘quotation process’ is the process of inviting suppliers to provide a quotation/s for the supply of a particular good or service, the evaluation of quotations received and the selection of the successful business.

For the purposes of this Instruction, the ‘period’ of a contract or a consultancy includes the period of any options to extend, regardless of whether the options are exercised or not.

For the purposes of this Instruction, the ‘value’ of a contract or a consultancy includes the value of any option to extend, regardless of whether the options are exercised or not. An option is to be valued in accordance with the terms of the contract. Where the value of the option cannot be exactly calculated, an estimate will suffice. The value excludes GST.

The following paragraph is an example of a statement of support by a Head of Agency for local business. Note that where no tenders were called, quotation processes run or contracts awarded, with a value of $50 000 or over (excluding GST), this should be noted in the statement.

"The Department of .................... ensures that Tasmanian businesses are given every opportunity to compete for Agency business. It is the Department's policy to support Tasmanian businesses whenever they offer best value for money for the Government. See Table ... for a summary of the level of participation by local businesses for contracts, tenders and/or quotations with a value of $50 000 or over (excluding GST). Tables ... and ... provide detailed information on consultancies and other contracts with a value of $50 000 or over (excluding GST)."

Following is an example of a table summarising the level of participation by local businesses with regard to contracts, tenders and/or quotation processes with a value of $50 000 or over (excluding GST):