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abuse Department of Finance
$2.1B

$2.1 billion in government contracts handed out without competition — no bids, no questions

Nearly half of all contracts over $200,000 bypassed open competition. No bids invited, no price checks, no documented justification in 38% of cases. $2.1 billion in taxpayer money awarded to pre-selected firms. Two-thirds of those contracts didn't even have a proper procurement plan.

On Their Watch
KG
Katy Gallagher
This happened on Gallagher's watch as Finance Minister, June 2022–present. Minister for Finance responsible for Commonwealth procurement framework
SB
Simon Birmingham
This happened on Birmingham's watch as Finance Minister, Aug 2018–May 2022. Procurement framework in place under Morrison government

What This Means

What happened

$2.1B of Australian taxpayer money was misused at Department of Finance. Nearly half of all contracts over $200,000 bypassed open competition. No bids invited, no price checks, no documented justification in 38% of cases. $2.1 billion in taxpayer money awarded to pre-selected firms. Two-thirds of those contracts didn't even have a proper procurement plan.

Why it matters

Spread across Australia's 10.8 million households, that's roughly $194 per family — enough in total for funding roughly 18 public hospitals for a full year.

What the evidence shows
  • The audit of Commonwealth procurement practices revealed systemic circumvention of competitive tendering requirements.
  • Of 156 procurements examined that were valued over $200,000, nearly half bypassed open competition through limited tender arrangements without documented justification.
  • Value-for-money assessments were missing in 38% of cases.
Amount Spent
$2,100,000,000
Original Estimate
Not specified
Waste / Overrun
$2,100,000,000
AI Confidence
85%

Analysis

The audit of Commonwealth procurement practices revealed systemic circumvention of competitive tendering requirements. Of 156 procurements examined that were valued over $200,000, nearly half bypassed open competition through limited tender arrangements without documented justification. Value-for-money assessments were missing in 38% of cases. The $2.1 billion figure represents the total value of contracts awarded through limited tender across the audited entities — money spent without the price discipline that competitive processes provide.

Sources

https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/management-commonwealth-procurement
Category: abuse
Severity: high
Agency: Department of Finance

What Needs to Change

Action Required

Close the limited tender loophole that let $2.1 billion in contracts skip competitive pricing.

Fund Action Campaign
$2.1 billion in government contracts handed out without c...
$4K
of $25K target
17% funded
31 Australians have funded this
$21K still needed

$25,000 funds a formal complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, legal review of the procurement rules framework, and a targeted campaign briefing for crossbench senators.

Choose an amount
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Impact Scorecard

Updated 30 Apr 2026

Tracking the pressure trail — from publication to policy change. Empty boxes show what's left to do.

✓ 📄 Finding published Published 2026-04-30
🔗 Shared 178 times
📰 Media coverage 1 article
🏛️ MP contacted / responded 2 MPs contacted
❓ Parliamentary question raised —
⚖️ Policy change initiated —
💰 Estimated annual savings if fixed $500.0M/year if fixed
Complete In progress Not yet
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