Compliance

Under the FMA, the VGPB is responsible for monitoring compliance with its supply policies.

The key mechanism used to monitor compliance with the goods and services procurement framework is the annual self-assessment of compliance through the Standing Directions attestation submitted to the Minister for Finance. This is reported one year in arrears, with the compliance data available to the VGPB after the required publishing date for this report.

Departments and accredited agencies (see below), have an additional level of oversight through an accreditation and audit program, as well as tracking against performance measures which are reported in the VGPB annual report.

The VGPB is also responsible for reviewing escalated complaints about compliance with its policies in procurement processes.

To see a full list of VGPB expansion agencies and portfolio agencies, visit Goods and services mandated agencies on the Buying for Victoria website.

Departments and accredited agencies

Any reference to ‘departments and accredited agencies’ in this section refers to the below list of departments and agencies:

• Department of Education (DE)
• Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)
• Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH)
• Department of Government Services (DGS)
• Department of Health (DH)
• Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR)
• Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS)
• Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC)
• Department of Transport and Planning (DTP)
• Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF)
• Cenitex
• Victoria Police
• Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA)
• V/Line

Compliance results reported in 2023–24

The VGPB monitors compliance with its goods and services supply policies primarily through the outcomes of the annual attestation process for the Standing Directions 2018 under the FMA(opens in a new window) (2018 Directions). The 2018 Directions include 18 mandatory policy requirements(opens in a new window) from the VGPB’s goods and services supply policies.

Should a department or agency not meet a VGPB policy requirement, it will report a non-compliance under the 2018 Directions:

• A compliance deficiency is an attribute, condition, action or omission that is not fully compliant with the VGPB requirements
• A material compliance deficiency is a compliance deficiency that a reasonable person would consider as having a material impact on the agency or the state's reputation, financial position or financial management

The 2023-24 financial year was the second full year of compliance reporting across all VGPB agencies. For the second consecutive year, no agencies reported a material compliance deficiency as shown in Table 2.

Consistent with previous years, the results for 2023-24 show strong compliance in core procurement governance and sourcing processes. While agencies reported improved compliance, compliance deficiencies were reported in those requirements which are more complex and unique to the best practice VGPB policy framework, those requiring significant cross-agency planning or where responsibilities are more distributed. These areas include:

• emergency procurement
• contract management and contract disclosure
• procurement forward planning and capability strategies

Table 2: VGPB agencies reporting a compliance deficiency from 2022–23 to 2023–24

^{Note: From the 2024-25 VGPB Annual Report, compliance is reported on an agency basis rather than against the 18 policy requirements.}

^{*2022-23 results are included for 167 agencies in 2022–23 and 159 agencies in 2023-24.}

^{Note: From 2024-25, compliance is reported on an agency basis rather than against the 18 policy requirements.}

^{*2022-23 results are included for 167 agencies in 2022–23 and 159 agencies in 2023-24.}

Reported compliance outcomes continue to improve each year, as agencies embed VGPB policy requirements. Compliance improvements are supported by close engagement with agencies, procurement capability uplift activities and creation of guidance materials tailored to key challenges facing agencies. Refer to the VGPB priorities section for further details of these activities.

The VGPB accreditation and audit program

The VGPB accreditation and audit program applies to departments and a small number of large agencies, providing additional assurance on compliance.

The VGPB accreditation process assesses alignment of a department or agency’s procurement strategy and policies with the VGPB policy framework. Accreditation is maintained through participation in the VGPB audit program. Goods and services procurement audits assess procurement practice and compliance with the department’s policies in key risk and improvement areas.

Visit Buying for Victoria for more on the VGPB accreditation program including what is expected as part of the accreditation process.

Accreditation applications

Obtaining accreditation is a comprehensive process. Agencies must thoroughly review, revise and submit documentation to the VGPB to demonstrate that their internal procurement policies and processes align with VGPB policy requirements. Documentation must be assessed and supported by the agency’s internal auditor and the Audit and Risk Committee.

DGS, established in January 2023, finalised its VGPB accreditation in October 2024. The DGS accreditation covers the DGS procurement framework which applies to DGS, DTF and DPC.

Audits

The VGPB audit program requires departments and accredited agencies to complete two procurement audits every three years. The scope of these audits is tailored to each organisation’s specific risks and processes and is agreed with the VGPB before starting the audit. Departments and accredited agencies must report to the VGPB with their audit findings and actions for addressing any recommendations.

Audits in 2024-25

In 2024-25 the VGPB received the final three procurement audits of the 2021-24 VGPB audit program. These audits considered contract management, business-led procurement and cyber security. All departments and accredited agencies have now completed the requirements of the 2021–24 audit cycle.

Overall, the audit findings reflected a strong awareness of VGPB policy requirements. Areas identified for improvement included better guidance to support the application of the policies and improved documentation.

Management actions to address findings are unique to each agency. However, common remediations included improving guidelines, system improvements and developing training materials to support and uplift internal procurement capability.

Complaints

The VGPB policy framework requires departments and agencies to have a complaints management system in place that sets out the process and procedures for investigating and resolving complaints. Departments and agencies investigate and resolve complaints in line with their complaints process. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome, they may refer their complaint to the VGPB for review.

Three complaints were referred to the VGPB for review in 2024-25, in relation to procurements carried out by DFFH, Parks Victoria and DGS. The VGPB reviewed the complaints for DFFH and Parks Victoria and found no evidence of non-compliance with VGPB policies. As at 30 June 2025, the remaining complaint is not yet finalised.

Visit Buying for Victoria for information on complaints management.

Performance

Departments and accredited agencies track their procurement performance each year against a set of agreed performance measures and report their results to the VGPB. This is reported in addition to the 2018 Directions(opens in a new window) reporting outlined in the compliance section of this report.

The three performance measures for the 2024–25 reporting period are:

1. Procurement capability
2. Planned procurement activity as a percentage of actual procurement activity
3. Supplier satisfaction

Note that departments and accredited agencies have procurement models and profiles that vary in complexity and size. These differences should be considered when comparing results.

Performance measure 1: Procurement capability

Organisations assess their capability at the end of each financial year using the VGPB capability assessment tool.

Results in 2024-25 show that procurement capability has remained steady and comparable to previous years (Table 3). Organisations continue to focus on enhancing their capability, incorporating various training offerings into their capability development plans to keep practitioner skills current. Changes in capability scores in 2024-25 have been attributed to the introduction of more automated/guided systems and processes, and operational and staff changes within procurement functions.

Table 3: Procurement capability assessment results

^{* Scores for DGS, DTF and DPC are consolidated from 2023-24 following a Machinery of Government change. DGS now provides corporate procurement support for all three departments.}

^{** V/Line began reporting on performance measures 1 and 3 in 2023–24.}

Performance measure 2: Planned procurement activity as a percentage of actual procurement activity

The VGPB policies emphasise forward planning and transparency to the supply market about upcoming opportunities. Under the VGPB’s governance policy, organisations must develop and publish a forward procurement plan on their website. This measure assesses the level of forward planning by comparing the number of procurements undertaken with the number of planned procurements indicated in the forward procurement plan (Table 4).

Nine of the 14 departments and accredited agencies reported an improvement in planned procurement activity compared to the previous year. This was attributed to improved collaboration with business units and an emphasis on procurement planning as part of a proactive, long-term strategy to support future business needs.

Table 4: Planned procurement activity as a percentage of actual procurement activity

^{Note: DEECA, DGS, DJSIR, DTP and DTF underwent machinery of government changes in 2022–23 that affected their ability to measure and report meaningful results on some performance measures for that year. The table denotes ‘N/A’ where results were not reported for these departments.}

^{** V/Line began reporting on performance measures 1 and 3 in 2023–24.}

Performance measure 3: Supplier satisfaction

The supplier satisfaction results are based on a survey sent to successful and unsuccessful suppliers immediately following a sourcing process and measure their satisfaction with the process.

Supplier feedback provides valuable insights to participating organisations and the VGPB to identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Survey feedback indicated suppliers are seeking longer timeframes to respond to tenders, more regular communication where procurement processes are delayed, and more specific feedback following procurement processes.

Table 5: Supplier satisfaction

^{Note: The 2024-25 survey results include the 10 departments, Cenitex, VIDA, Victoria Police and V/Line.}