The ACT government should clearly establish the role of the procurement board in handling proposals, a parliamentary inquiry has recommended.
A committee, tasked with examining the territory's budget, has also urged the government to be more transparent with information around procurement, including listing the members of the board.
The estimates committee has handed down more than 100 recommendations following its examination of the territory budget.
Among the recommendations are:
- The ACT government to provide more support to improve the Canberra to Sydney rail connection;
- The government should increase the number of public housing properties;
- The Suburban Land Agency should purchase and redevelop more existing urban-zoned land to deliver more infill development;
- The government should plan a school for the Belconnen town centre;
- The government should release a preliminary business case for the light rail for Woden "as soon as practicable"; and
- The government should ensure the ACT Integrity Commission has sufficient funding to ensure it can complete investigations in a timely manner.
The committee was chaired by opposition member Mark Parton.
"The committee appreciates the assistance and expertise provided by witnesses throughout the hearings and in answering questions," he said.
"I also acknowledge the contribution during the hearings from my committee colleagues and visiting members."
The government's procurement board has come under scrutiny following a report from the ACT Auditor-General which found board was "not optimally effective", was compromised by a lack of clarity around its primary role and was not efficiently fulfilling its functions.
Auditor-General Michael Harris told the committee giving the board "a bit more teeth" so it could insist on changes to procurement processes would clear up some of the long-running issues in the system.
Requiring officials who ignore the advice of the ACT's procurement board to write and publish their reasons for doing so would also "go a long way" to improving the way procurement decisions are made, Mr Harris said.
The committee said in its report that it agreed with these recommendations.
The committee also urged the government to use already existing funds to train public servants in family violence awareness.
The safer families levy is paid by all home owners in the ACT as part of their general rates. The money goes towards supporting measures to prevent and respond to domestic and family violence.
Estimates heard part of this funding had gone to training public servants in domestic violence awareness.
Greens' deputy chair of the committee Jo Clay had some additional comments to go with the report. Her comments questioned whether the ACT government had done enough to tackle global warming.
"No government has the luxury of focusing on only one issue. We have a housing crisis as well," she said.
"We also and always need quality health care, education, transport, urban and community services.
"We must ensure taxpayer money is spent sensibly and with integrity. We discussed all of these issues in estimates, as we should, but I remain worried about the level of priority our government is putting into climate action and adaptation. Do our budget priorities meet the crisis we face?"
