Procurement Governance Failures - Where Councils Get Caught (and How to Avoid It)
Across Western Australia, local governments are facing increasing scrutiny over procurement integrity, transparency, and governance. Audit reports, CCC investigations, and local inquiries consistently reveal the same pattern — councils have strong procurement policies on paper, but inconsistent implementation in practice. Procurement governance failures rarely stem from bad intent; they arise from weak systems, unclear roles, and cultural complacency. Understanding where councils get caught is the first step to strengthening probity and performance.
1. The Common Governance Pitfalls
a. Policy–Practice Gaps
Many councils have up-to-date procurement policies, but staff operate on outdated templates or informal workarounds. This leads to inconsistent application of thresholds, exemptions, and documentation — creating exposure even where the intent is compliant.
b. Poor Record Keeping
Failure to maintain clear audit trails — particularly around evaluation scoring, conflict-of-interest declarations, and approval pathways — remains one of the most common findings in OAG and CCC reviews. Inadequate records make it difficult to defend decisions when challenged, and can undermine community confidence.
c. Lack of Separation of Duties
Combining roles — such as specification drafting, evaluation, and contract management — creates a perception (or reality) of bias. Smaller councils are particularly at risk due to limited resources, but must still demonstrate procedural independence and probity controls.
d. Overuse of Exemptions and Variations
Procurement exemptions, direct sourcing, and post-award variations are legitimate tools — but when poorly justified or undocumented, they signal governance breakdown. Repeated use of the same suppliers without market testing can attract allegations of favouritism or anti-competitive behaviour.
e. Weak Contract Management
Even well-run tenders can fail if the contract phase is not properly governed. Missing KPIs, poor performance monitoring, and ad hoc extensions all dilute accountability and erode value for money.
2. The Governance Foundations That Work
Clear Frameworks
A strong procurement framework sets out the link between legislation, policy, procedures, and delegated authority. Councils should ensure their documents are consistent, accessible, and periodically reviewed.
Defined Roles and Responsibilities
Councils should formally assign procurement responsibilities to distinct officers or panels — ensuring checks and balances between the requester, approver, and evaluator.
Transparent Decision-Making
All key decisions — particularly regarding exemptions, evaluation results, and contract awards — should be documented and capable of public scrutiny. Transparency is not just a compliance measure; it is a cornerstone of trust.
Probity Oversight
Independent probity advisers or internal reviewers can add rigour to higher-risk or high-value procurements. Their role is to monitor fairness, not to slow the process — a distinction that must be made clear to staff and elected members.
Training and Capability
Governance failures often reflect gaps in capability. Councils should invest in regular procurement and probity training, particularly for staff involved in specification drafting, evaluation, or negotiation.
3. The Role of Leadership and Culture
Governance is not just about process — it is about leadership tone and organisational culture. Where CEOs and senior managers actively reinforce the importance of probity and fairness, staff are empowered to speak up when something doesn’t look right. Embedding governance into performance metrics, induction programs, and risk registers ensures procurement integrity becomes part of how councils do business — not a compliance afterthought.
4. How to Stay Off the Watchlist
To avoid governance failure and external scrutiny, councils should:
1. Conduct annual internal audits of procurement activity.
2. Review exemption and variation trends for red flags.
3. Engage independent probity support for high-risk procurements.
4. Ensure councillors are briefed on their role and boundaries in procurement decisions.
5. Strengthen contract management systems to track performance, extensions, and spend.
5. The Takeaway
Most procurement governance failures are preventable. They result not from corruption, but from a lack of alignment between policy, people, and practice. By tightening systems, clarifying roles, and reinforcing culture, councils can safeguard both probity and performance — ensuring procurement decisions stand up to scrutiny and deliver tangible value to the community.
How Muscat Tanzer Helps Councils Strengthen Procurement Governance
At Muscat Tanzer, we help councils move from compliance risk to confident governance. We understand the operational pressures local governments face — tight timeframes, limited resources, and public scrutiny — and provide practical legal and strategic support to make procurement both compliant and effective.
Procurement Framework and Policy Review
We assess your procurement and contract management policies against the Local Government (Functions and General) Regulations 1996 (WA), State Supply Commission Guidelines, and probity expectations.
Gap analysis and improvement roadmap
Integration of sustainable and social procurement objectives
Updated thresholds, delegations, and approval pathways
Probity and Governance Support
Independent probity advice that helps protect decision-makers without slowing the process.
Probity advice for high-risk or complex procurements
Conflict-of-interest management
Documentation and audit trail review
Governance advice for councillor and CEO roles
Procurement Process Design and Evaluation Support
We help design compliant, defensible procurement processes from planning to award.
Drafting and review of RFQs, RFTs and evaluation criteria
Oversight of evaluation and recommendation processes
Advice on negotiation, tender clarifications, and debriefing
Contract Governance and Lifecycle Management
We ensure that post-award performance is properly governed and documented.
Contract template and KPI development
Advice on variations, extensions, and renewals
Compliance audits and corrective action plans
Training and Capability Building
Tailored workshops for procurement, governance and leadership teams.
Procurement and probity training
Councillor briefings on governance and legal boundaries
Lessons learned and continuous improvement programs
Independent Procurement Audits
Objective, external review of your procurement activity to identify systemic risks and demonstrate transparency.
Annual or targeted audits
Review of exemption and variation trends
Practical recommendations for improvement
Paul Muscat
Director
Muscat Tanzer
Lucy White
Associate
Muscat Tanzer
