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Administrative Guidelines on Engaging Professional Services in the Victorian Public Service

The purpose of these Guidelines is to provide decision making principles and practical guidance that supports public service bodies and entities to determine when the use of professional services is appropriate.

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1. Overview

Professional services and labour hire play an important role in supporting the Victorian Public Service (VPS) to ensure government priorities are achieved.

The purpose of these Administrative Guidelines on Engaging Professional Services in the Victorian Public Service (Guidelines) is to provide a practical decision-making framework for the use of professional services, including approval, record-keeping and reporting requirements. This framework will support limiting professional services engagements to specific circumstances and allow departments to achieve their budget commitments. Labour Hire arrangements are covered separately under the Administrative Guidelines on Engaging Labour Hire in the Victorian Public Service (Labour Hire Guidelines).

For detailed information about the policies that govern procurement in the Victorian Government more broadly, contact the Victorian Government Purchasing Board, or visit the Victorian Government Purchasing Board website.

2. Scope

Bodies and entities in scope of the Guidelines

The Guidelines are circulated to public service bodies and entities under Section 36A of the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) (the Act) and apply to all government public service bodies and entities as defined in the Act that are mandated to comply with VGPB policies. The Guidelines do not apply to: • special bodies as defined by section 6 of the Act • exempt bodies as defined by section 4 of the Act • to any government body established under the Inquires Act 2014 (Vic)

Engagements in scope of the Guidelines

An engagement is in-scope when any ‘core public service functions’ are expected to form a material part of the engagement, regardless of value.

‘Core public service functions’ are a material part of an engagement when expenditure on the six types of services in Table 1 is expected to collectively:

  1. account for a significant proportion of the proposed engagement OR
  2. have a proposed value exceeding $150,000 (incl. GST), even if this will not be a significant proportion of the engagement
Worked Example

An entity is seeking to undertake an infrastructure project. The budget for the proposed work is $10,000,000, which includes preparing a substantial business case and undertaking significant stakeholder engagement.

The entity estimates that, collectively, these ‘core public service functions’ components will be valued at approximately $250,000 and will not account for a significant proportion of the proposed work. However, as the components are estimated to collectively exceed $150,000 (incl. GST), the engagement is in-scope of these Guidelines.

Core Public Service Functions

  1. Strategic policy/program advice, development, or implementation
  2. Program reviews, assurance, or evaluation
  3. Business strategy and organisational development and redesign
  4. Business case preparation and development
  5. External stakeholder/community engagement and facilitation
  6. Internal meeting and event facilitation

Exemptions

3. Valid engagement circumstances

To go-to-market for work which is considered a core public service function, as determined by the test outlined in section 2, one of the below four ‘valid engagement circumstances (VEC)’ must apply, and the conditions required for that valid engagement circumstance to apply must be met:

A. Work requiring skills or expertise that cannot be efficiently maintained within the organisation1.

To meet this condition, the following must apply:

B. Need for genuine independence

To meet this condition, one of the following must apply:

C. Work requiring immediate or time critical action that cannot be met within existing VPS capacity

To meet this condition, the following must apply:

D. Engagement has received explicit Cabinet approval

To meet this condition, the following must apply:

Whether a VEC applies should be assessed and approved by the responsible senior executive prior to going to market, and the decision and VEC recorded.

Secretaries (or equivalent) may provide an exemption in exceptional circumstances to go-to market, even when one of the four VECs does not apply for which is considered a core public service function.

4. Approval requirements

Scope of approval requirements

Engagements in scope of the Guidelines are subject to these approval requirements. The definition of engagements in scope are defined in Section 2.

The approval requirements do not apply to engagements which have received explicit Cabinet approval (see Section 3 - Valid Engagement Circumstance D).

These, and other, engagements which are out of scope of these approval requirements for any reason, are subject to departments/entities’ standard procurement and approval processes and thresholds.

Approval requirements

The Secretary – or equivalent Head of a public service body – must confirm the valid engagement circumstance and approve the decision to go to market for in-scope engagements, if either of the following is true:

A. The estimated engagement value is more than $150,000 (including GST) Note that as approval is required before going to market, the financial threshold applied here relates to the estimated value of the proposed engagement. B. A valid engagement circumstance does not apply (See Section 3) If no valid engagement circumstance applies, Secretary (or equivalent) approval is required before going to market regardless of the estimated value of the contract.

Department Secretaries, or equivalent Head of a public service body, are accountable for the procurement of all professional services engagements, regardless of delegation permitted under the Guidelines.

5. Record-keeping requirements

Departments and entities are expected to maintain appropriate records for all professional services engagements, including engagements in scope of these guidelines.

For engagements in scope of these Guidelines, these records should be able to demonstrate compliance with the Guidelines at the point of going to market and should include, at a minimum, the below fields in addition to fields required by the body’s internal procurement policies:

This authority may be delegated to the responsible Deputy Secretary or equivalent if a valid engagement circumstance can be demonstrated.

Please contact your Chief Procurement Officer for further information regarding the applicable approval and record keeping requirements.

6. Approval process for engaging professional services

Decision matrix

Approval process for engaging professional services

7. Additional guidance

Additional information and resources on Victorian Government State Purchase Contracts

State Purchase Contracts organised by category

Professional Advisory Services State Purchase Contract

User Guide - Professional Advisory Services State Purchase Contract

eServices Register

Marketing Services Register

Legal Service Panel

Other procurement resources

Browse State Purchase Contracts, Registers and other supplier lists

Procurement complexity and capability assessment policy

Victorian Government Financial Management and Financial Reporting Directions

Financial Reporting Directions and guidance for Departments

Standing Directions 2018 under the Financial Management Act 1994

Footnotes

  1. Whenever possible, engagements should include a contractual obligation and clear project strategy for transferring relevant skills and knowledge across to the VPS.

Authorisation and amendments

Authorised by the Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet Victoria, under section 36A(1) of the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic).

Jeremi Moule Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet

Compliance

Under section 36A(3) of the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic), if a public service body or a public entity to which guidelines have been issued operates, or intends to operate, in a manner that is inconsistent with those guidelines, the relevant public service body Head or public entity Head must provide written reasons for doing so to the Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Number: 2024/05

Issue: 1.2

Issued by the Department of Premier and Cabinet Victoria (DPC) in July 2024.

These Guidelines are subject to periodic amendments. DPC will provide notification when an update has taken place.

Governance

Updated 15 January 2025

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