Employees of Australian government can no longer purchase printer cartridges from sources other than those contracted following scandal.
ABC News reports that a new stationery contract means that Australian government employees must buy all printer cartridges solely from contracted suppliers only after it was discovered in 2011 that government departments overpaid for a large amount of printer cartridges in exchange for gifts from the suppliers.
The contract was announced by Michael O-Brien, South Australian Finance Minister, who said: “I directed that this across-government stationery contract explicitly prohibit the provision of private benefits to public sector employees.
“Government agencies across the entire state will only be able to make purchase of printer cartridges from the contracted suppliers.” He also reportedly added that the contract is expected to save approximately A$6 million ($6.1 million/€4.8 million) over three years.
The Recycler has previously reported on the cartridge scandal, which saw government employees purchasing cartridges for more than three times the usual price in return for cash incentives and gifts such as iPhones, with as much as A$1.2 million ($1.22 million/€974,000) being spent on cartridges by South Australian government departments overall. It was reported in April that 70 schools in Adelaide were also found to have been involved in the scandal.