Obligations to suppliers

You should always be mindful of your obligations to potential suppliers. We’ve set out some of these obligations below.

Have authority to proceed

Before you engage with the market, you must have:

• the intention, commitment and authority to proceed
• an approved and adequate budget
• arrangements in place to manage all stages of the procurement process and its outcome.

You must also make sure the method you use to approach the market is fair and transparent and will achieve value for money.

Provide enough information

Your tender documents must give suppliers enough information to prepare their responses. You should provide:

• a description of the good or services you’re procuring
• the contract length or the period the goods or services must be provided
• where and how suppliers can lodge their responses
• the due date for responses
• any conditions suppliers must meet to be considered for the contract
• key evaluation criteria
• whether the procurement process contains any further steps
• your contact details and how they can ask for further information.

Consider requirements covered procurements

For covered procurements, you must provide information as per clause 14 of PBD-2019-05 Enforceable Procurement Provisions.

Read more in how to notify the market.

Minimise requests for information

You should minimise the amount and type of information you ask suppliers to provide at every stage of the procurement cycle. You must:

• include the type and amount of information you’re seeking as early as possible in contracting documents and communication. This extends to any documents you issue after awarding the contract.
• only require potential suppliers to provide information necessary for assessing a proposal.
• ask for information at the latest possible stage of the contracting process and only then from suppliers you’re still considering.
• not ask for the same or similar information at more than one stage of a multi-stage procurement process. However, you can ask a potential supplier for additional information or clarification on whether their information is current.
• not ask for publicly-available information unless you need it to confirm accuracy or validity.

Make information requests easy

Whenever you ask a potential supplier for information, you should:

• provide options on the format for supplying that information
• use industry standards and commonly-used terms
• only ask for financial information at the contracting stage on low-value contracts
• not ask for financial information at the prequalification stage
• inform the potential supplier what information you'll release publicly or to other agencies.

Provide information when asked

You should respond promptly to any questions or requests for clarifications from suppliers.

For covered procurements, you must reply promptly to suppliers’ reasonable requests for procurement information unless providing that information:

• is against Australian law
• there’s an overriding public interest against disclosing the information (as defined in the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009)
• would give the supplier an unfair advantage over other suppliers in a competitive procurement process.

Suppliers can request information at any time, including during a procurement’s planning phases.

Obligations for preparing a contract

When you’re preparing a contract for a potential supplier, you must

• describe any information you’re likely to need, as well as the formats in which it can be supplied and the frequency you’ll ask for it.
• not ask for information, unless:
  • you’re required to by law
  • you’ll use it to assess the delivery of goods and services under the contract, or
  • you’ll use it to assess performance.