The Australian Government will streamline its print procurement to save time and money under a new five-year plan.

The $220 million procurement program for Commonwealth printing was announced by Minister for Human Services, Chris Bowen, and Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner.

Mr Bowen said the new design, production and distribution tender program would enable 12 government agencies to access printing services from 176 approved service providers without having to go through their own tender process.

“It will save millions of dollars and many hours of paperwork through reduced administrative costs and less red tape for businesses,” Mr Bowen said.

More agencies are expected to opt-in to the tender program in the future.

Mr Tanner said the print procurement program was just one example of the Rudd Government’s procurement reform process.

“The Government awards contracts totalling about $30 billion a year to procure goods and services,” he said.

“A number of those goods and services are bought by most or all agencies and yet under existing arrangements the purchase of those items is not coordinated across Government.

“Our new Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines facilitate a coordinated approach to procurement that will make sure Australian taxpayers get the best value for money.”