Contracts & Agreements

Understanding Agreements, Contracts & Preferred Suppliers at UNDA

Agreement or Contract: An understanding or arrangement between two or more parties. These specific types of agreements are legally binding and enforceable in court. The University enters into contracts under defined terms and conditions.

Preferred Suppliers: Suppliers with whom the University has a formal contract to provide specific products or services. More detail on which suppliers are part of this list can be found on our Find a Supplier page

Approved Suppliers: These are suppliers which we do not have a formal contract in place with, however these suppliers have completed the UNDA supplier onboarding & verification process. These suppliers can be used, though UNDA competitive quote or other sourcing requirements must be adhered to. As well as Legal & Finance review requirements being met.

UNDA Contract/Agreement Template Guidelines

Where to Get Templates:
All templates are managed by the Legal Office. To request one, email legal@nd.edu.au

Usage Conditions:

  • Templates are provided blank for Schools & Offices to complete.
  • Completed agreements must be returned to Legal & Finance for review before being sent to the other party.
  • Do not save or reuse templates locally for future agreements.
  • Templates are regularly updated, and using outdated versions will result in rejection and a request to redo the agreement using the current version.

Request for Supplier Agreement Review

Consider the Finance Review Process for all supplier agreements.

Legal Review should also be completed prior to signing any agreement.

Complete a Supplier Agreement Review Request form, this assists both the Procurement and Finance teams with their review of agreements and supplier terms and conditions. The information provided will determine the extent of our review based on various risk factors (e.g. value, whether they are a new supplier, etc.).

If the goods or services are related to online subscriptions, websites, app development, licences or software, IT equipment or other related products, the IT Office is required to review and endorse the purchase before requesting a review.

Contract Register

The Contract Register is maintained by Procurement. Contract Owners have access to specific contracts relevant to their Faculty or Department. For further information or to request access please email contracts@nd.edu.au.

Agreement Review Information

  • Agreements requiring Finance review

    Any agreement with a total value greater than $2k that the University is a signatory.

    Supplier Agreements, MOUs, Funding/Grants.

    Addendum, amendments, extensions of the above

  • Finance review expectations

    Review requests to be submitted via online form

    Finance reviewers include Procurement, Business Partner and Financial Reporting.

    The only agreements that do not require Finance review are valued under $2,000

    All Agreements regardless of value should be provided to contracts@nd.edu.au for filing

  • Service Level Agreements for Finance review

    • All contract inquiries: Within 24 hours
    • New/Renewal Contracts:
      • New contracts under 12 months, under $10K: 2 days
      • New contracts 12 months and above, any value: 5 days
      • New contracts under 12 months, $10K and above: 5 days
      • Contract renewals, any value, under $50K: 2 days
      • Contract renewals, any value, $50K and above: 5 days
    Please note that extended timeframes may occur due to incomplete or incorrect documentation. Timeframes for review processes owned by teams other than procurement are controlled by those individual teams.

  • Why Finance review agreements

    Procurement review is to ensure terms are in line with UNDA policy and procedure. Any risks are identified & mitigated or managed for the life of the agreement.

    Business Partner review is carried out to ensure that the costing of any Funding proposal, Grant Amount, MOU or Agreement is budgeted for. In addition to the above Business Partners review budgetary and financial implications of the agreement to the University.

    Finance Reporting review is done to assess the tax and financial reporting implications of the agreement to the University.

  • Before signing any agreement

    Consider using UNDA templates to simplify this process eg. clinical placement agreements. Please email legal@nd.edu.au to request the relevant template.

    The University's Modern Slavery Agreement must be used where agreements do not have a modern slavery clause.

    Agreements for Software/Licensing also require IT endorsement.

    Dean/Director are not endorsing reviews before Finance and Legal review have been completed.

    Finance and Legal review can be done in parallel if a UNDA agreement template is used, therefore streamlining the process and shortening timeframe.

  • Raise a Purchase Order

    Refer to the Requisition page for details on how to raise a purchase order

  • Following up on a Request for review

    When a request for review is submitted, a task is created in the Procurement Contracts Teams channel.

    These tasks are grouped by business unit and are viewable in the Reviews tab. To check the status of your task, please navigate to your request task and view the outstanding Checklist Items in the task.

    Individual reviewers are assigned to each task and can be located within the task itself. You can reach them via email for expediting or seeking follow-up on specific tasks. Please refer to the assigned reviewer's information within the task details.

    Feel free to use the comments section to ask questions, seek clarifications, or provide updates related to specific review tasks.

  • Escalations

    If you need to escalate any contract review or have inquiries specific to certain review teams, please reach out to the following individuals:

    • Procurement Reviews and inquiries: Kara Kinninmont, Strategic Procurement Manager
    • Business Partner Reviews: Yvette Maloney, Manager, Business Partnering
    • Financial Reporting Reviews: Francois Steyl, Manager, Financial Reporting