Appendix A Exemption 17

Exemption 17 of Appendix A to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules allows a Commonwealth entity to engage a small or medium enterprise directly, without an open approach to market, for procurements valued up to $500,000 including GST, provided value for money can be demonstrated. Where the Indigenous Procurement Policy mandatory set-aside applies, an Indigenous business must have been given the opportunity first. For an SME this is one of the most useful provisions in the rules: it means a direct relationship with a buyer can convert into work without a public tender.