The selection and engagement of consultants is treated in the same way as the procurement of other goods and services and is conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and the Chief Executive's Instructions. Where competition exists and it is efficient to do so, selection on an open tender approach to the market is adopted, and is approved on a case-by-case basis.

Consultants are normally engaged where the necessary skills or expertise are not available within the Bureau and are not required permanently, but may also be engaged to provide independent advice to the Bureau or to supplement existing resources to meet critical deadlines. For these reasons, the availability of suitable consultants for a particular task can be very limited.

During 2004-05, 87 new consultancy contracts were entered into and involved total actual expenditure of $498,052. In addition, five ongoing consultancy contracts were active during the 2004-05 financial year involving total actual expenditure of $251,933. Details of consultancies in excess of $10,000 are provided in Appendix 11.