Government Contracts: NEW Legislation and Guidelines in COVID-19 and Beyond
Issues covered include: probity procurement, recent changes to conflict of interest guidelines, trends in government corruption, fraud and misconduct, improving fraud control, audit processes, probity plan, new legislation, Public Works and Procurement Amendment
Description
With new probity legislation and ICAC guidelines, this seminar is a vital reminder of what you need to keep close to mind when considering government transactions, including conflicts, fraud, audits, challenges and more. Governments are under closer scrutiny than ever to maintain probity and transparency in all procurement arrangements. At the same time, ensuring that decisions and processes are fair, transparent and defensible is even more challenging now with all of the COVID-19 factors at play..
Attend and earn 3 CPD units including:
2 units in Substantive Law
1 unit in Practice Management & Business
This program is based on NSW legislation
Chair: Phill Scott, Head of Tendering and Contracts, Local Government Procurement; IACCM Fellow PRIProb
2.00pm to 3.00pm: NEW UPDATED ICAC GUIDELINES: Key Probity Concerns in Procurement and Changes to ICAC Guidelines
- Important recent changes to The Managing Conflicts of Interests in the NSW Public Sector Guidelines
- The latest in government corruption, fraud and misconduct
- Direction negotiations, including agreeing on the price
- Contract management and where fraud and corruption has arisen
- Probity considerations during COVID-19
- Recent ICAC case studies
Presented by Giselle Tocher, Principal Officer Corruption Prevention, NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption
Practice Management & Business Skills
3.00pm to 4.00pm: Improving Fraud Control and Audit Processes for Government: Current Trends
Recent high profile investigations have put the spotlight on conflicts of interest, corruption and the importance of maintaining effective probity processes within government practice.
- Clarifying the roles of the various players, including the Probity Auditor
- How a probity plan should be developed and what it should include
- Processes to avoid fraud and other misconduct happening in your department with an increase in fraud likelihood in a post COVID-19 world
- Important takeaways from the latest cases
Presented by Daniel Heywood, FTS Director, Clayton Utz
4.00pm to 4.15pm: Afternoon Tea
4.15pm to 5.15pm: NEW LEGISLATION: New Legislation Giving Suppliers the Right to Challenge Procurement Decisions
- Public Works and Procurement Amendment (Enforcement) Act 2018 (NSW); potential impacts on government entities tendering
- Approaches to procurement challenges in other Australian and overseas jurisdictions
- Practical tips to minimise risk and avoid challenges
- State and local government regulatory amendments on tendering
- Recent contractual update in esponse to COVID-19
Presented by Scott Alden, Partner and Victoria Gordon, Associate, Holding Redlich