The ACT government's local procurement spend plummeted from 54 per cent to just 34 per cent over the past six years, while the territory confirmed it does not centrally track how much of its multibillion-dollar budget is actually reaching local small businesses or Indigenous enterprises.
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson, who raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly, questioned how the government could monitor its own policy goals without centralised data.
"The ACT government has introduced recent reforms to encourage procurement from Canberra-based SMEs, but isn't measuring how much government spending actually goes to those businesses," Mr Emerson said.
Read the article here: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9240123/act-governments-local-procurement-spend-drops-plummets-in-six-years/