Senator O'Brien asked the Minister for Family and Community Services and the Minister representing the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, upon notice, on 15 September 2003:

(1) For each of the following financial years: (a) 1996-97; (b) 1997-98; (c) 1998-99; (d) 1999-2000; (e) 2000-01; (f) 2001-02; (g) 2002-03; and (h) 2003-04, has the department or any agency for which the Minister is responsible, including boards, councils, committees and advisory bodies, made payments to the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) for research projects,

consultancies, conferences, publications and/or other purposes; if so, (i) how much each payment, (ii) when was each payment made, and (iii) what services were provided.

(2) In relation to each research project or consultancy: (a) when was the IPA engaged; (b) for what time period; (c) what were the terms of reference; (d) what role did the Minister and/or her office have in the engagement of the IPA; (e) was the contract subject to a tender process; if so, was it an open tender or a select tender; if not, why not.

Senator Patterson (Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women) —The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1) (a) No.

(b) No.

(c) Yes.

(i) $28.00. (ii) 29 October 1998. (iii) IPA Review subscription renewal.

(d) No.

(e) Yes.

(i) $209.00. (ii) 17 May 2001. (iii) Premier Membership for the period 1 May 2001 to 30 May 2002.

(i) $247.50. (ii) 26 April 2001. (iii) 3 x registrations for attendance at the State Budget Brief on 16 May 2001.

(f) Yes

(i) $55.00. (ii) 13 May 2002. (iii) general membership for the period 1 June 2002 to 30 May 2003.

(g) Yes.

(i) $27 134.00. (ii) 25 June 2003. (iii) Scoping phase of the research study `The Protocol: Managing Relations with NGOs'.

(i) $135.00. (ii) 9 May 2003. (iii) general membership renewal for the period 1 June 2003 to 30 May 2004 and for the publication Backgrounder.

(h) No.

(2) (a) 8 May 2003.

(b) 8 May 2003 to 31 December 2003.

(c) The terms of reference for the research contract are:

A comprehensive assessment of the links between key Commonwealth Departments and their constituent NGOs;

A framework for assessing the role and standing of NGOs, based on the information requirements of those Departments and relevant Ministers;

A framework for a database of NGOs, including their standing;

A proposed standard of public disclosure in dealing with NGOs; and

A proposed trial Protocol that requests NGOs to supply information (based on points above) about themselves that will be publicly available.

(d) The former Minister for Family and Community Services requested that the proposal be referred to the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership for consideration.

(e) No. The Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidelines notes that “The Government does not prescribe a specific purchasing method nor any arbitrary thresholds. Buyers must consider the requirements and existing market conditions of each procurement, and select a procurement method on its merits”.