Government Contracts: Federal, State and Local 5th ed

Government Contracts 5th edition is the new edition of a work that has now been in existence for some seventeen years. It is Australia’s definitive legal text on all levels of government contracting, which focuses on the legal issues that may arise in connection with government contracts and which have no parallel in the private sector.

It explains the law in a manner that government contract managers, and their private sector counterparts doing business with government, will find indispensable. Presented in plain English, it is equally accessible to lay readers and lawyers. Law students will also benefit from the up to date case law, relevant policy developments and legislation relating to government contracting, including procurement and outsourcing.

Authoritative and respected, Government Contracts has been referred to in State and Federal court cases, in the High Court and in government policy documents.

New material in this 5th edition includes:-

• the application of, and exemption from, the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the accompanying Australian Consumer Law to government at all three levels;
• a new section in Chapter 6 covers the application of the troublesome proportionate liability law to government at all levels;
• the impact of the High Court's decisions in Pape and Williams on the Commonwealth's spending power;
• coverage of the High Court's decision in Port of Portland Pty Ltd v Victoria;
• the anomalies created in New South Wales and Queensland by legislation that removes corporate status from local government bodies;
• treatment of tendering in Chapters 7 and 8 draws on new Australian case law and cases from other countries with similar legal systems to Australia, in particular Canada.

As always with Seddon’s work, a careful re-consideration of every aspect of the book has been undertaken providing clarity and comprehensive sources for the reader. This new edition is current to 30 November 2012 and is an indispensable resource for lawyers, government contract managers and their private sector counterparts.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: LOCAL GOVERNMENT QUEENSLAND
In the Preface, Chapter 4 at [4.2] and Chapter 6 at [6.6] and [6.10], attention is drawn to the fact that Queensland local government bodies are not bodies corporate. This anomaly has now been corrected by an amendment that came into effect on 1 February 2013 – see Local Government Act 2009 (Qld) s 11.