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On 20 June 2001, the Senate agreed to the Order. The Order requires each Minister to table a letter in Parliament advising that a list of contracts, in respect of each entity administered by that Minister, has been placed on the Internet (with access to the list through the relevant entity's website). The Minister's letter must be tabled no later than two calendar months after the last day of the financial and calendar year.

The original Order and subsequent amendments (2002, 2003 and 2014) require that the list of entity contracts include details of:

  • Each contract entered into by the entity which has not been fully performed, or which has been entered into in the previous 12 months, and which provides for a consideration to the value of $100,000 or more (GST inclusive)
  • The contractor, the amount of the consideration and the subject matter of each contract
  • Reporting of 'date' information on the listing, including:
    • Contract commencement date
    • Contract end date (identified or anticipated)
    • The relevant reporting period covered by the listing
  • Whether each contract contains provisions requiring the parties to maintain confidentiality of any of its provisions, or whether there are any other requirements of confidentiality, and a statement of the reasons for confidentiality
  • An estimate of the cost of the entity complying with the Order and a statement of the method used to make the estimate.

The majority of the contracts identified in the attached CSIRO listings contain confidentiality provisions of a general nature that are designed to protect the confidential information of the parties that may be obtained or generated in carrying out the contract. The reasons for including such clauses include:

  1. ordinary commercial prudence that requires protection of trade secrets, proprietary information and the like; and/or
  2. protection of proprietary material and personal information.

The accountable authority of CSIRO is not able to provide an assurance that each of the listed contracts do not contain any inappropriate confidentiality provisions. The reason that the accountable authority is not able to provide that assurance is that, at the time of entering into the listed contracts, CSIRO was not required to comply with the Senate Order for Entity Contracts and the confidentiality provisions included in CSIRO's listed contracts were considered to be appropriate having regard to all the circumstances.

Senate Order for Entity Contracts Listing

On 20 June 2001, the Senate agreed to the Order. The Order requires each Minister to table a letter in Parliament advising that a list of contracts, in respect of each entity administered by that Minister, has been placed on the Internet (with access to the list through the relevant entity's website). The Minister's letter must be tabled no later than two calendar months after the last day of the financial and calendar year.

The original Order and subsequent amendments (2002, 2003 and 2014) require that the list of entity contracts include details of:

  • Each contract entered into by the entity which has not been fully performed, or which has been entered into in the previous 12 months, and which provides for a consideration to the value of $100,000 or more (GST inclusive)
  • The contractor, the amount of the consideration and the subject matter of each contract
  • Reporting of 'date' information on the listing, including:
    • Contract commencement date
    • Contract end date (identified or anticipated)
    • The relevant reporting period covered by the listing
  • Whether each contract contains provisions requiring the parties to maintain confidentiality of any of its provisions, or whether there are any other requirements of confidentiality, and a statement of the reasons for confidentiality
  • An estimate of the cost of the entity complying with the Order and a statement of the method used to make the estimate.

The majority of the contracts identified in the attached CSIRO listings contain confidentiality provisions of a general nature that are designed to protect the confidential information of the parties that may be obtained or generated in carrying out the contract. The reasons for including such clauses include:

  1. ordinary commercial prudence that requires protection of trade secrets, proprietary information and the like; and/or
  2. protection of proprietary material and personal information.

The accountable authority of CSIRO is not able to provide an assurance that each of the listed contracts do not contain any inappropriate confidentiality provisions. The reason that the accountable authority is not able to provide that assurance is that, at the time of entering into the listed contracts, CSIRO was not required to comply with the Senate Order for Entity Contracts and the confidentiality provisions included in CSIRO's listed contracts were considered to be appropriate having regard to all the circumstances.

Senate Order for Entity Contracts Listing

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