Consultants and contractors can provide expert advice, knowledge, and ideas about government policy and specific challenges. They can also help deliver key programs that the government could not otherwise deliver. However, an overreliance on contractors can be costly and may have detrimental impacts, such as a loss of capacity and capability across the public sector.
In his report Let the sunshine in, Professor Coaldrake recommended that departments should more robustly account for the benefits derived from engaging consultants and contractors, with regular monitoring by the Auditor-General. The Queensland Budget 2024–25 identifies that the government is implementing the Smarter Spending, Better Jobs Plan to deliver savings of $3 billion across the next 4 years. One of the identified areas to achieve savings is for agencies to reduce reliance on contractors and consultants in line with Professor Coaldrake’s recommendation.
This audit will examine how effectively public sector entities are using consultants and contractors. It will assess how much the government is spending on them, the benefits and value it gets from them, and how effectively it manages them. We will also look at whether entities are using the expertise and knowledge of consultants and contractors to build their own capability.
- Department of Energy and Climate (as the responsible department for procurement)
- selected public sector entities.