There are five major ways to supply to Government:
- Tenders
- Prequalification schemes
- Competitive processes
- Special arrangements (existing contracts, small & regional business, ATSI, ADEs
- Over the counter
Sourcing Tenders
Step 1 – Create an account
The first step is to set yourself up as a subscriber.
Simply go to your states tendering website and create an account. As part of the registration process, you will need to provide information about the nature of your business.
Step 2 – Tender alert systems
All subscribers receive Free Tender Alerts. These alerts let you know about public tender opportunities suited to your industry. Not only does this save you time and money, it ensures you don’t miss business opportunities.
Step 3 – Searching opportunities
To search for current opportunities, closed opportunities and recently awarded contracts, use the search bar in your state’s tendering website.
Step 4 – Apply for Prequalification Scheme
State and Federal Government has a range of pre-qualification schemes covering a wide range of goods and services from various sectors. These schemes cover both whole of government and agency-specific schemes. This may provide opportunities for suppliers who register and pre-qualify, although pre-qualifying is not a guarantee of receiving any work.
Agency specific schemes apply for some agencies that have a specific need that is not met by an existing whole-of-government contract and therefore require their own procurement contracts and schemes.
When Government agencies need to buy goods or services, it can approach these pre-qualified suppliers in a number of ways – including via a request for tender (RFT), request for quote (RFQ) or request for proposal (RFP). It can sometimes also negotiate directly with suppliers – depending on the circumstances.
The application process for schemes varies, depending on the nature of the goods and services covered by the scheme. Some schemes provide different levels of pre-qualification with fewer requirements for works up to certain values or thresholds.
It is worth bearing in mind that applying to join a prequalification scheme can be time consuming, as there is a lot of information that needs to be provided in the process. Don’t rush into starting an application until you have read all the information about what is required and can dedicate the time and resources needed.