Concerns tech companies are plying officials for lucrative govt contracts

A document published by the joint committee of public accounts and audit last week revealed software company Salesforce gifted NDIA officials thousands in hospitality and benefits while contracted to provide software services to the government agency.

The NDIA staff failed to declare the benefits, in breach of rules which require public servants to publish all gifts and benefits received over the value of $100.

The document, compiled by Salesforce, indicated that the firm had supplied officials with 118 instances of hospitality and/or gifts over nearly four years - including some valued at more than $100 - between March 2019 and December 2023.

This was despite NDIA staff telling the committee during a public hearing that procurement officials were obliged not to accept any gifts from vendors as soon as a procurement starts to be planned.

In a final report into the NDIA's 2020 procurement of a new computer platform for National Disability Insurance Scheme participants, the Labor-chaired committee raised concerns "regarding potential systemic inappropriate cultivation of Commonwealth officials" by ICT firms.

"The Committee is concerned to understand whether these practices may be more widespread across the public sector including by other major ICT vendors," the report reads.

It recommended that Finance, which oversees federal government procurement rules, and the Digital Transformation Agency, which manages whole-of-government ICT contracts, investigate the matter further.

The agencies have been urged to take steps to understand "the extent to which inappropriate cultivation of Commonwealth officials may be occurring as a result of hospitality and gifts by major ICT vendors".

The committee did not seek to name and shame individuals involved, but did note that the agency was "taking this matter seriously".

The committee also flagged "very significant" variations to the value of the contract, which saw its worth balloon to $135 million by October 2023, up from $27 million at its inception in April 2020.

While it found that increased demand for the platform necessitated the variations, the committee noted that the series of contract revisions "heighten concerns about probity and integrity issues".

A spokesperson for the NDIA welcomed the report, saying the agency would "review the recommendations before considering any further action".

"The agency proactively initiated an investigation in response to the findings of Dr Ian Watt's Independent Review into Services Australia (SA) and NDIA's Procurement and Contracting and the [committee] inquiry," they said.

"The leadership of the agency has a very firm expectation that staff behave with integrity and in alignment with expectations that they uphold APS standards to be ethical, transparent, and accountable in all of their professional activities."

Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten called the behaviour unacceptable, and said that it had occurred under the previous government, claiming "it has taken a Labour government to stop [that behaviour]."

The committee's final report into procurement at Services Australia and the NDIA focused largely on contracts for the software platform - known as PACE - but an interim report in September 2023 reviewed contracts awarded to consulting firm Synergy 360.

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The interim report recommended allegations of links between the firm and former government services minister Stuart Robert be referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, because the committee did not have the resources to investigate further.

Mr Robert and Synergy 360 strongly reject the allegations, which were raised under parliamentary privilege, and the committee was not provided with any direct evidence of the allegations.

Coalition senators issued additional comments reiterating their view that "it is not the role of the committee to request that the NACC conduct an investigation into any matter".