Adelaide Riverbank (Festival Plaza) Development

We reviewed the procurement arrangements used to select the preferred tenderer and execute the Development Agreement for the Adelaide Riverbank (Festival Plaza) Development project. The procurement initially involved a competitive expression of interest and request for proposal process followed by a direct negotiation process. 

Specifically, the review considered:  

• compliance with relevant government policy and procedural requirements, such as Treasurer’s Instructions and procurement frameworks  
• compliance with agency specific procurement policies and procedures  
• information presented to and approved by SA Government   
• whether the procurement arrangements considered probity, accountability, transparency and fair treatment of participants
• whether procurement processes established by the SA Government were adequate to assess value for money in entering into the Development Agreement 
• whether appropriate governance and accountability arrangements were established and operating effectively to provide adequate oversight of the procurement.  

We concluded that the controls over the procurement process were not sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that the process was conducted properly and in accordance with accepted standards for procurement management.