Public-Private Partnership (Transparency and Accountability) Bill 2024* (Qld)

An Act to enhance the transparency and public accountability of the decision-making processes for public-private partnerships The Parliament of Queensland enacts—

Part 1 Preliminary

Division 1 Introduction

1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Public-Private Partnership (Transparency and Accountability) Act 2024.

2 Purpose The purpose of this Act is to enhance the transparency and accountability of the decision-making processes for public sector entities that use a public-private partnership for the delivery of public infrastructure or a public service.

3 How purpose primarily achieved The purpose of this Act is to be achieved primarily by— (a) embedding the principle of value for money in the procurement of goods and services relating to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure in the State; and (b) using transparent procedures for approving, awarding and implementing major projects by public-private partnerships; and (c) ensuring that commercial activities carried out in the State by public-private partnerships are conducted in accordance with the principles of transparency, fairness, proper management, integrity, accountability and long-term sustainability.

4 Principle underlying this Act (1) The underlying principle of this Act is that a public sector entity that undertakes a major project as a public-private partnership should publish appropriate information about the project and the partnership, other than information classified as commercial-in-confidence, in a publicly accessible way as soon as practicable after the information becomes available. Note— A public sector entity is not required to publish information for which the public sector entity has provided justification that the information be classified as commercial-in-confidence. See section 14. (2) This Act must be administered in accordance with the underlying principle.