Review of AusTender data against the Open Contracting Data Standard
1.Introduction
1.1In November 2015, the Commonwealth confirmed its membership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and commenced a year-long consultation process to develop Australia’s first National Action Plan (NAP).
1.2The NAP has been finalised and provided to the Open Government Partnership with a number of commitments. One of those commitments relates to the Department of Finance (Finance) undertaking a public review of the Commonwealth’s compliance with the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS).[1]
1.3Finance has undertaken a review of the data published on AusTender to:
1.3.1Ascertain the Commonwealth’s current compliance with the OCDS disclosure standards. An analysis of the current level of compliance of the procurement data published via AusTender with the OCDS is located at Schedule1.
1.3.2Assess what information would be required to meet higher levels of disclosure in accordance with the OCDS (including the costs and associated risks with committing to a higher level of compliance). This information is also included in Schedule 1 and is also described in summary below.
1.4This report has been prepared for the Department of Finance (Finance) and sets out the findings of the review of the AusTender data and its compliance with the OCDS.
2.Public consultation
2.1This report will be released for public comment.
2.2Finance will take the feedback provided by the public into account, as applicable, when finalising this report and providing recommendations to Government, as required by the NAP.
3.Report Summary
3.1The manner in which AusTender and the OCDS publish procurement data is fundamentally different.
3.2The OCDS requires data to be published in machine readable form using discrete data releases that include specific data fields (see Schedule 1)in accordance with adefined data release schema.
3.3Although AusTender publishes procurement information online, AusTender was not designed as a system that publishes structured data using discrete data releases in machine readable format or to integrate with other data sets. AusTender does not publish procurement data using the same structures or data fields as the OCDS.This means that the OCDS data fields do not always align with the data published by AusTender.
3.4Despite this, AusTender generally publishes data which meets the ‘basic’ level of disclosure recommended by the OCDS (although that information is not always published in the same format or level of detail required by OCDS). For example, AusTender publishes information which includes:
3.4.1Buyer name and contact details.
3.4.2Tender (for example, approach to market) identifiers, titles, descriptions, procurement method, period, and item descriptions.
3.4.3Documents associated with the tender.
3.4.4Contract (and award) identifiers, titles, goods and services descriptions, dates, and aggregate values.
3.4.5Successful supplier names and addresses.
3.5Although AusTender publishes data which meets some of the intermediate and advanced levels of disclosure recommended by the OCDS, there is less overall compliance with these levels of disclosure. This is because the OCDS requires the publication of:
3.5.1Information which links data between systems and allows the public to identify changes in the procurement processes and contracts over time.
3.5.2Information about procurement planning and budget information in data format.
3.5.3Additional details regarding processes and items being procured.
3.5.4Additional information about the tenderers (including unsuccessful tenderers) that participated in the procurement process.
3.5.5Information about the progress and implementation of the contract (for example,information about financial transactions that have occurred under the contract).
3.6To increase the Commonwealth’s compliance with the OCDS, the Commonwealth would need to:
3.6.1Publish data in the manner required or recommended by the OCDS (for example, by publishing regular data releases in machine readable format). This would require AusTender to be redesigned to meet the requirements of the OCDS or for an alternative data publication system to be implemented by the Commonwealth.
3.6.2Ensure that the data published by the Commonwealth is consistent with the data that the OCDS requires or recommends is published by (for example, by publishing data about financial transactions that have occurred under each contract).
3.7Even if the Commonwealth did not publish data in the manner required or recommended by the OCDS, to increase the level of data disclosure necessary to meet the disclosure levels recommended or required by the OCDS, the Commonwealth could amend AusTender to ensure that the information published on AusTender more closely aligns with the data required to be published by OCDS.
3.8The key issues, sensitivities and costs associated with meeting the higher disclosure levels include:
3.8.1A significant amount of additional effort and investment will be required to collect and publish the required data or to develop systems to do so in the manner required or recommended by the OCDS. For example, collating and publishing implementation data under each contract will require significant resources from the Commonwealth to implement as this information is not currently captured by AusTender or routinely made publicly available.
3.8.2Some procurement information may be protected by privacy, confidentiality, or security obligations which means that it cannot, or should not, be disclosed, unless there are applicable exceptions to those restrictions.
3.8.3Information required to be published which can identify the success rate of tenderers or the implementation of contracts may be negatively perceived by the market. For example, some entities are unlikely to want information about how they are performing under contracts to be made available to the public (for example, because this might influence the ability of those entities to win future work). This may consequently influence the number of types of tenderers which bid for Commonwealth work (although there are always likely to be tenderers for Commonwealth work).
3.9Although it is possible to redesign the AusTender system to amend the information published by AusTender, thiswould involve significant costs. Additional costs or effort may also be incurred to collate and publish the required data necessary to include in the AusTender system (including in respect of information which is already publicly available).
3.10In addition, the fact that AusTender does not publish all data required by the OCDS, does not mean that this information is not publicly available. In many instances the procurement data that the OCDS requires or recommends is published is already available through other means, including:
3.10.1Publicly available resources (such as an agency’s website, or annual procurement plans published in document form on AusTender) or by making a request to the relevant agency.
3.10.2Freedom of information requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (subject to any exceptions set out in that Act).
3.10.3Public accountability and disclosure obligations of agencies (for example,to respond to requests by ministers and parliament) and the auditing activities of the Australian National Audit Office (noting that Commonwealth procurement requests and contracts generally include specific rights to disclose information for public accountability purposes).
3.11It is not the purpose of this report to determine whether any changes to the current arrangements required to align AusTender (or any other Commonwealth systems and processes) with the OCDS represent value for money. Whether any required activity, investment or costs which may be incurred by the Commonwealth represent value for money would need to be considered as part of a cost benefit analysis and in consideration of the Commonwealth’s objectives for AusTender and open government generally.[2]
4.AusTender
4.1AusTender is the Australian Government’s procurement information system, the centralised web-based facility which publishes agencies’ planned procurements, approaches to market and contracts awarded. It also supports secure electronic tendering to deliver tender process integrity and efficiencies for agencies and business.
4.2As the reporting component of the Australian Government’s Procurement Framework, AusTender is a compliance mechanism for agencies to meet their transparency and accountability obligations to Parliament and to the public in respect of Commonwealth procurement activities.[3]For example, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules require all non-corporate Commonwealth entities to use AusTender to report all Commonwealth contracts that are valued at $10,000 or more.
4.3Importantly for industry and the community, AusTender is also a business intelligence tool, which provides information on procurement outcomes over time, as well as early access to and participation in Government business opportunities.
4.4Since 2005, AusTender has provided the means for agencies to meet the procurement transparency obligations of Australia’s Free Trade Agreements.
4.5Although AusTender publishes procurement information online, AusTender was not designed as a system that publishes procurement information using data standards.
4.6There are 67 input systems maintained by entities across the Commonwealth which contribute information to AusTender. This includes multiple systems within some Commonwealth entities. Not all systems are currently automated and some agencies are required to manually record and input certain data.
5.The OCDS
5.1The OCDS is an open data standard developed by the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP).[4]
5.2The intent of the OCDS is to allow users to “publish shareable, reusable, machine readable data, to join that data with their own information, and to create tools to analyze or share that data.”[5]The OCDS describes the data that the OCP considers should be published at each stage of a procurement process.
5.3Importantly, using the OCDS requires the publication of data in machine readable form using discrete data releases that include specific data fields. The OCDS employs a release schema which describes the data fields and structures to use when publishing data. Further OCDS schema describe how to combine releases into data packages and to compile releases into records.[6]
6.Other data standards
6.1The OCDS is one tool that governments can use to assess how transparent their procurement processes are to the public and disclose procurement process data to the public.
6.2However, there are other organisations which seek to promote greater government transparency and accountability and assess the extent open data is published. For example, the Global Open Data Index[7] ranks countries against various categories (including procurement, draft legislation, government budget, and election results) and recently ranked Australia as number one for the publication of procurement data.[8]
7.Methodology
7.1The OCDS has published a table (OCDSSummary Table) which lists each of the data fields in the OCDS required to be met, or which are recommended to be met, to achieve either the basic, intermediate, or advanced level of disclosure.[9]
7.2The OCDS Summary Table identifies whether a data field is required or recommended for each level of disclosure by:
7.2.1Specifying ‘X’ for any data field that is required to meet the relevant level of disclosure.
7.2.2Specifying ‘-’ for any data field that is recommended to meet the relevant level of disclosure.
7.3The OCDS Summary Table also:
7.3.1Includes a description of the information required to be published to meet each data field.
7.3.2Identifies the documents that should be provided at each disclosure level (the list of documentation in the OCDS Summary Table is non-exhaustive).
7.4Not all data fieldslisted in the OCDS Summary Table include a description of the information required to meet that data field. In addition, not all data fields have been assigned to a particular level of disclosure.
7.5The data fields listed in the OCDS Summary Table have been manually mapped against the applicable data fields published by AusTender. The AusTender data fields mappedagainst the OCDS Summary Table are listed at Schedule 2. Although the OCDS publishes electronic tools to assist with checking the level of compliance with the OCDS, because of the manner in which AusTender data is currently published, those tools have not been used to review the data published by AusTender.
7.6The mapping of the AusTender data fields against the OCDS Summary Table data fields has been undertaken at a granular level. This reflects the content of the OCDS Summary Table.
7.7Schedule 1 therefore identifies whether:
7.7.1There is an equivalent AusTender data field that contains the information required by the applicable OCDS Summary Table data field.
7.7.2If there is no equivalent AusTender data field that contains the information required by the applicable OCDS Summary Table data field, whether a combination of the AusTender data fields, or publicly available information, contains equivalent information which meets the intent of the OCDS data field.
8.Summary of Compliance Results
8.1Table 1 summarises the level of compliance of the AusTender data fields with the OCDS Summary Table data fields:
'Basic' (Required) / 64 / 39 / 61%
'Basic' (Recommended) / 52 / 15 / 29%
'Intermediate' (Required) / 78 / 23 / 29%
'Intermediate'(Recommended) / 60 / 5 / 8%
'Advanced' (Required) / 41 / 0 / 0%
'Advanced' (Recommended) / 25 / 3 / 12%
Table 1: Summary of Compliant Data Fields
8.2In addition, overall the AusTender data fields currently include information which correspond to:
8.2.147% of the basic OCDS data fields.
8.2.220% of the intermediate OCDS data fields.
8.2.35% of the advanced OCDS data fields.
8.2.427% of all OCDS data fields for basic, intermediate and advanced.
8.2.532% of all OCDS data fields (including basic, intermediate advanced, andOCDS data fields which have not been assigned to any specific level of disclosure).
8.3However, it is important to note that the above figures are based on a quantitative assessment of the number of AusTender data fields that include information which directly maps to the information required in the OCDS Summary Table data fields.
8.4Because of the different ways in which information is published using AusTender and the OCDS, the above figures do not measure the degree of qualitative compliance with the requirements in the OCDS Summary Table where the intent of the data field has been, or may be, met by a combination of other data fields, information made available through AusTender (for example, in the tender documentation itself), or by other publicly available information.For example, the physical address of an agency is not specified in the AusTender data fields, but is readily available from The degree of qualitative compliance is set out below.
9.Evaluation of compliance against the OCDS Categories
9.1The data fields listed in the OCDS Summary Table have been categorised by OCDS as follows:
9.1.1Meta-data.
9.1.2Planning.
9.1.3Buyer.
9.1.4Tender.
9.1.5Award.
9.1.6Contract.
9.2This section9 sets out an assessment of the following for each of the above categories:
9.2.1The key areas of any non-compliance with the data fields identified in the OCDS Summary Table.
9.2.2The significance of any non-compliance with the data fields identified in the OCDS Summary Table.
9.2.3Guidance on the required additional data necessary to meet the higher standard of disclosure set out in the OCDS Summary Table (noting that this information is also identified in Schedule 1).
9.2.4An assessment of the risks and sensitivities associated with meeting any higher standard of disclosure.
9.2.5An assessment of the likely costs associated with moving to any higher standard of disclosure. It does not however quantify any additional costs or the economic impacts on competition within the market.
9.3Additional comments, including about the significance of any non-compliance, are set out in Schedule 1.
9.4Meta-data
Issue / CommentsKey areas of non-compliance / The OCDS Summary Table is based on procurement data being published using discrete data releases which use schema and meta-data that provide for a detailed specification of the fields and data structures to use when publishing procurement data.
The Commonwealth does not currently issue procurement data using discrete data releases or packages. Therefore, it does not comply with any of the meta-data data fields listed in the OCDS.
Similarly, because of this, the AusTender data fields do not always correlate exactly with the data fields in the OCDS Summary Table, even though the same level of information may be published by AusTender (for example, in the tender documentation or by examining multiple AusTender data fields).
Significance of the non-compliance / The Commonwealth publishes procurement data through AusTender and other documentation made publicly available by agencies.
Although the meta-data requirements of the OCDS standard are not met, the meta-data requirements relate to the manner in which procurement data is published, rather than the content of that data.
This means that procurement data published by the Commonwealth may not be as easily collated and analysed by the public as if it were published in accordance with the OCDS schema (for example,machine-readable data is more easily searched and filtered and allows the public to more readily analyse information).
However, applicable procurement data is still made available, consistent with the objectives of open government.
How to meet the higher standard of disclosure / To meet the best practice requirements identified by the OCDS, the Commonwealth would be required to publish data in a structured, consistent and regular manner, including to:[10]
- Provide machine-readable structured datasets that contain the key information required or recommended in the OCDS.
- Use the OCDS model to publish initiation, award, contract and implementation information for each contracting process (which is structured using a JSON schema so third-parties can usethe data effectively).
- Release data for every event or change that occurs (for example, when a tender is issued, an award made, and a contract signed) and summarising these changes in a data pack (the OCDS recognises that there may be alternative ways for undertaking this activity).
- Ensure that each release of procurement data is accessible at its own persistent web address so that the information (and any changes to it) is readily accessible.
- Publish links to other key datasets to allow integration between datasets.
Risks and sensitivities / The significant risks and sensitivities associated with moving to a higher level of disclosure include:
- Significant changes to the Commonwealth’s procurement data collection and publication processes (which would need to be co-ordinated for all agencies if managed by AusTender).