A key business group and some rising Australian entrepreneurs have slammed the way the federal government chooses suppliers for billions of dollars worth of contracts.

The Canberra Business Council has opened fire on the tender process.

It says the government should change its ways, adjusting the definition of “value for money” so that international companies would have to join up with local ones to secure deals.

It says that Australian companies should be favoured, even if their offering is slightly more expense than an overseas supplier, in order to support local jobs and taxes.

Australian entrepreneur Mick Spencer, who runs a growing global sportswear business, said his firm can hardly get its foot in the door, with information on new opportunities being so hard to find.

“There can be a fine line between what's an open tender and what is not,” Mr Spencer told Fairfax Media.

“The industry talk is that if you see it on Austender, you're already a week too late.”

“It makes it harder to get the motivation to grow and it leads to Australia losing businesses to other countries,” he said.

Canberra Business Council chairwoman Michelle Melbourne agrees, telling a recent Senate finance and public administration references committee that the current state of procurement favours big internationals at the expense of Australian businesses.

She called for more transparency and the routine publishing of price expectations on Austender.

The Finance and Public Administration hearing is accessible here;