Questions and answers

AI
- With the rapid growth of ChatGPT and similar AI tools, should we be including clauses in government contracts that regulate the use of AI tools?
Collaborative contracting
Financial terms
- Do we need to be wary of service providers inserting index-dependent price increase clauses into their contracts with our agency clients?
Funding agreements
- If my department makes a funding grant to a person or organisation, will the Crown have IP rights over the funded outputs?
Government Model Contracts
- Under the GMC’s default IP provisions, will my agency always own buyer data?
Grants
- If my department makes a funding grant to a person or organisation, will the Crown have IP rights over the funded outputs?
ICT agreements
- I’m an in-house lawyer who works on ICT contracts for my agency. In addition to having a good grasp of contract law, what rules, policies, guidelines, procedures and related matters do I need to be aware of?
- What are the Guidelines for Treatment of Intellectual Property Rights in ICT Contracts, and where can I find them?
Intellectual property
Liability and indemnities
- As an in-house departmental lawyer, I often come across indemnities when reviewing technology contracts. What’s the law relating to indemnities and can my department grant one?
- Is it OK to include an indemnity in our contract that makes a supplier liable to indemnify our agency for all losses it may suffer directly or indirectly as a result of any breach of the contract and regardless of whether the losses were foreseeable?
Marketplace
Novation
- If there’s a reorganisation of functions within the Crown, where functions held by one department (A) are transferred to another department (B), do we need to novate supplier contracts with A relating to those functions, to B?
Outcome Agreements
- Can it be helpful to state, in a variations clause, that any variations to the agreement need to be made by way of an updated version of the agreement (or, if relevant, schedule or SOW)?
- Do I need to be aware of any issues with the IP clauses in the Outcome Agreement templates?
Parties
- How should I explain the party name for a department of the Crown?
Policies and rules
Privacy
- Do agencies that share significant volumes of personal information always need to have an information sharing MOU or agreement in place?
- When Agency A shares personal information with Agency B, can Agency A restrict uses and disclosures by Agency B that the Privacy Act’s information privacy principles would otherwise permit?
Procurement process
- Is it possible use a Marketplace Subscription Agreement for services in the Consultancy and Professional Services Channel or Managed Services Channel, and for services that are not listed on the Marketplace?
Public service reorganisations
- If there’s a reorganisation of functions within the Crown, where functions held by one department (A) are transferred to another department (B), do we need to novate supplier contracts with A relating to those functions, to B?
Variation agreements
- Can it be helpful to state, in a variations clause, that any variations to the agreement need to be made by way of an updated version of the agreement (or, if relevant, schedule or SOW)?
- Can we vary a commercial contract we have with a supplier without needing to make the variation a deed? Could consideration be a problem?