1. Procurement Guidelines
Finance – Strategic Procurement
Procurement Guidelines
FOCUS POINT: Engagement of Contractors and Consultants

2. How to ensure that you comply with the Procurement and HR Policy?
First work out whether you wish to hire a Contractor or a Consultant (either Sole Trader/Individual or Company)
A Contractor
Characteristic of a contractor:
Who does the person report to? Report to UNSW employee
How is this person being paid? The person is being paid for time and effort working to a position description delivering on BAU activities
What does the person do? A contractor should be engaged to cover BAU work or brought in as additional resource for a short to mid term (i.e.: less than 6 months). For long term (i.e.: over 6 months and definitely over 12 months, you need to consider hiring a fixed term employee).
A Consultant
Characteristic of a consultant:
Who does the person report to? Report to a company/third party (i.e.: not reporting to UNSW employee)
How is this engagement being paid? The payment is made based on deliverables as agreed in a quote (i.e.: SOW or proposal) The quote should outline payment based on deliverables not on a time & effort basis.
What does the person do? A consultant should be engaged to provide advice or provide UNSW access to specific skills or IPs for a short term period.
A consultant is responsible of the project outcome.
A consultant is most of the time an employee of a company/third party.
Follow the process below
Follow the process below
Engage the Talent Acquisition team through HR
The Talent Acquisition team will guide you through UniHire (= Page Up) to input your requirements and will manage the sourcing of your contractor
either by liaising with contractor agencies to receive CVs or by contracting directly with a person or any other approach agreed by HR.
(click here for a summary of contractor agencies suppliers panel contracted by Procurement for HR to use)
Once you have selected the right contractor, the Talent Acquisition team will use UniHire for agreeing contractor’s details, contract, PO, payment and performance management.
(click here for further information)
Engage Procurement
Procurement will guide you through the process.
(click here for a summary of consultant agencies suppliers panel contracted by Procurement for UNSW staff to use)
For more information on the 'Indirect Taxes' that UNSW may be liable for as a result of Contractor or Consultant engagements, please refer to ‘Engaging Independent Contractors & Consultants’ guide.

3. How to extend a contractor?
Who do you hire?
A Contractor
Engage the Talent Acquisition team through HR
The Talent Acquisition team will guide you through UniHire (= Page Up) to input your requirements and will manage the sourcing of your contractor
either by liaising with contractor agencies to receive CVs or by contracting directly with a person or any other approach agreed by HR.
(below is a guide on how HR will manage the process going through contractor agencies)
Engage contractors via the NSW Government Contingent Workforce Scheme (SCM0007)
Amount <$350k per contractor (rather than the total amount spent with one agency) = 1 CV from panel
Amount <$1M per contractor = 3 CVs from panel or as approved by HR
Amount >$1M per contractor = Engage with Procurement via HR
Each engagement with a contractor (with either Sole Trader/Individual or Company) must result in a contract signed by UNSW relevant financial delegate and the agency + a PO raised in NSF confirming that UNSW is paying the agency and that the agency is responsible for the engagement of that person
How to extend a contractor?
Initial value + extension < $350K = just raise new PO
Initial value + extension < $1M = 2 other CVs to be sourced or as approved by HR
Initial value + extension > $1M = Engage with Procurement via HR
Each extension must result in a contract signed by UNSW relevant financial delegate and the agency + a PO raised in NSF
UNSW rules:
Amount considered must cover the total period of engagement.
Contract template can be found at the end of this document: Engaging Independent Contractors & Consultants
The recruitment process must be transparent, professional and demonstrate value for money. The interview panel must have signed Declaration and Conflict of Interest and no gifts or benefits can be accepted during this period.
If engaging a sole trader for contract or consulting and UNSW is paying 100% of their total revenue (i.e.: only source of annual income), it is likely that this person will be considered as an employee of UNSW but it also depends on ATO factors. The Vendor Creation form can help you with this. If a person is engaged as an employee, HR should be engaged to review the role.

4. A Consultant Who do you hire?
Engage Procurement
Procurement will guide you through the process.
(below is a guide on how Procurement will manage the process going through consultant agencies)
Engage consultants via the Management Consulting suppliers panel
Consultant not on any panel contracted by Procurement.
< $350k per engagement = 1 quote* from panel
<$1M per engagement = 3 quotes* from panel or exemption signed by Procurement
>$1M per engagement = Engage with Procurement
Each engagement with a consultant must result in a SOW signed by UNSW relevant financial delegate and the agency + a PO raised in NSF.
< $50k per engagement = 1 quote*
<$350k per engagement = 3 quotes* or exemption signed by Procurement
>$350k per engagement = Engage with Procurement
Each engagement with a consultant must result in a SOW signed by UNSW relevant financial delegate and the agency + a PO raised in NSF.
How to extend a contractor?
Initial value + extension < $350K = just raise new PO
Initial value + extension < $1M = 2 other quotes to be sourced or exemption signed by Procurement
Initial value + extension > $1M = Engage with Procurement via HR
Each extension must result in a SOW signed by UNSW relevant financial delegate and the agency + a PO raised in NSF.
Initial value + extension < $ 50K = just raise new PO
Initial value + extension < $ 350K = 2 other quotes to be sourced or exemption signed by Procurement
Initial value + extension > $ 350K = Engage with Procurement via HR
Each extension must result in a SOW signed by UNSW relevant financial delegate and the agency + a PO raised in NSF.
UNSW rules:
*A quote can be a SOW or a proposal which includes deliverables and payment milestones.
Amount considered must cover the total period of engagement.
The recruitment process must be transparent, professional and demonstrate value for money. The interview panel must have signed Declaration and Conflict of Interest and no gifts or benefits can be accepted during this period.
If engaging a sole trader for contract or consulting and UNSW is paying 100% of their total revenue (i.e.: only source of annual income), it is likely that this person will be considered as an employee of UNSW but it also depends on ATO factors. The Vendor Creation form can help you with this. If a person is engaged as an employee, HR should be engaged to review the role.

5. FAQ
Scenario 1:
Elisabeth has just announced she is going on maternity leave for 6 months.
As her manager, I am looking for someone to back fill her. I would be paying for 8 hours a day, the work will be defined each morning and paid based on time & effort. This position reports to myself as the manager.
Contractor or Consultant?
Response: A contractor - Click here for process to follow
Justification:
The contractor will be paid based on time & effort to cover BAU work and reports to a UNSW employee.
A contractor is typically an external person which contracts with UNSW because there is a need to augment existing resources (e.g. due to a short-term increase in projects), or to fulfil a short-fall in capacity where certain skills and knowledge are ordinarily present at UNSW. Contractors are deemed as UNSW employees at law if directly engaged as sole traders via UNSW payroll. Contractors can also be engaged via a contractor agency.
Note: HR recommends hiring a fixed term employee if Elisabeth was going on maternity leave for longer than 6 months.

6. FAQ
Scenario 2:
‘Consultant agency X’ is engaged on a project to an Statement of Work. Listed resource is Leanne for 2 days per week who reports to her ‘Consultant agency X’ manager.
Leanne is going on leave for the next 6 weeks and the expected value to cover her work for 6 weeks is $30K.
‘Consultant agency X’ has nominated Patrick to replace Leanne because he has specific skills to back her up and also works for the ‘Consultant agency X’.
Contractor or Consultant?
Response: A consultant - Click here for process to follow
Justification:
The consultant reports to his company/third party.
In this specific case, Procurement advised that this is a change in the consultant agency resource so no additional formal contract change was required. Only UNSW as the customer needs to agree (in writing generally preferred) to the change of consultant.

7. FAQ
Scenario 3:
Simon is engaged to provide additional resources to a UNSW project team. He is brought in from ‘Consultant agency Y’ to provide specific skills and IPs from its company, to deliver on a project with specific deliverables.
Contractor or Consultant?
Response: A consultant - Click here for process to follow
Justification:
The consultant is brought in to provide specific skill-set and knowledge not available at UNSW to provide professional or expert advice in a specific field. He has greater subject matter expertise than would be feasible for UNSW to retain in- house. He is paid upon provision of deliverables. This consultant will typically reports to his company/third party.
It might happen in some cases that deliverables are not specific and that a consultant is engaged to support BAU work and report to UNSW manager. In this specific case, the person engaged would still be classified as a consultant “on secondment” because UNSW pays a third party to get a resource in as well as all the third party’s IP for a specific project.