Defence to launch new buying portal

Defence will launch a new procurement Web portal containing details on defence suppliers, as part of new procurement rules aimed at expanding opportunities for local companies.

The procurement portal will be launched by the beginning of July, according to Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, Greg Combet.

The portal will be deployed with 400 existing defence supplier names, along with each company's capabilities.

"It has been a long-standing problem to find easily accessible, accurate and current information on the capabilities of companies in the Defence industry sector," said Combet in a statement.

The database of companies will be publicly searchable, and companies not in it already will be able to register as users and then include their details on the database.

The portal should boost opportunities for small and medium suppliers to engage with Defence, said Combet. New procurement rules will force prime contractors to assess companies listed on the portal prior to finalising buying arrangements.

"This is an important scheme, we will not let defence primes [contractors and tenderers] get away with claims that Australian SMEs don't have the capabilities to work in their supply chains. They will have no excuse for not consulting the ePortal to establish what capabilities SMEs actually have," he added.