DFAT broke procurement rules — again — after ANAO caught them doing the same thing in a previous audit

ANAO Auditor-General Report No. 11 of 2024-25 found DFAT's Australian Passport Office requesting quotes from suppliers not on approved procurement panels while those same suppliers were already engaged and performing work for DFAT — constituting illegal limited tender under Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

The same procurement breach pattern was identified in a previous ANAO performance audit of DFAT. Despite the prior finding and DFAT's formal response accepting the recommendations, no effective corrective action was taken. The same rule-breaking recurred.

Additional failure: One tender was issued that closed with zero responses — suggesting the procurement was structured in a way that excluded the market entirely, either through poor scope definition or over-restrictive requirements.

Estimated value of affected contracts: approximately $50M (Reckoner estimate based on ANAO audit scope; exact figure not publicly disclosed).

This is a systemic governance failure that DFAT leadership was aware of, accepted recommendations about, and then ignored.

Sources:

- ANAO Report No. 11 2024-25: https://www.anao.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-10/Auditor-General_Report_2024-25_11.pdf