New ticketing system tender

Executive summary
2 New Ticketing System Tender
Between the release of the RFT (30 July 2004) and the Board’s recommendation of the
successful tenderer (10 June 2005), the Board met nine times. The conduct of the
Board meetings and out-of-session briefings and approvals were consistent with
contemporary approaches to corporate governance.
While the Board was expanded late in the tender process to comprise three members
(the statutory limit is five members), for most of the tender period the Board consisted
of two members. Given the size and complexity of the tender, a larger Board was
warranted.
The Authority established an Audit Committee with two members to assist the Board.
At the time of the NTS tender, these two individuals were also members of the Board.
A larger Audit Committee, with at least one external member, would have
provided a higher degree of assurance about the Authority’s governance,
compliance and performance.
The Authority established an evaluation committee comprising five senior executives
from the Authority, the Authority’s senior legal advisor, and representatives from the
Departments of Treasury and Finance and Infrastructure. The evaluation committee
was supported by five advisory teams comprising Authority staff, external experts and
advisors. Four senior Authority managers were members of both the evaluation
committee and one or more advisory committees. The accountability arrangements
would have been strengthened had the senior managers participated in either
the evaluation committee or the advisory teams but not both.
In a major tender, the role of a Probity Advisor is to establish and manage the probity
approach, while the role of a Probity Auditor is to independently review the nature and
conduct of the probity approach. In the case of the NTS tender, the Probity Auditor and
Probity Advisor roles were combined. While combining the roles may benefit a
tendering authority through cost savings and efficiencies, having a separate
Probity Auditor role provides a higher level of assurance about the standard of
tender probity. Combining the roles serves to confuse accountabilities and may
weaken public confidence in the probity of a tender.
As a non-departmental public entity, the Authority was not required to comply with the
tendering guidelines issued by the Minister for Finance, the Department of Treasury
and Finance and the Victorian Government Purchasing Board (VGPB). The Authority
had adequate policies and procedures in place to ensure compliance with the
VGPB guidelines.
The Authority began planning the NTS tender in late 2003, building on a significant
body of research undertaken by the Authority’s precursor, the Public Transport
Ticketing Taskforce. The Authority’s planning for the NTS tender was completed before
the initial date for the close of tenders. The essential plans, processes and
administrative arrangements were all in place when the NTS tender commenced.