Most federal opportunities appear on AusTender only when the tender opens. Annual Procurement Plans are one of the few places where agencies tell the market what they expect to buy before that. They are worth a regular look, as long as you read them for what they are: plans, not promises.

What an Annual Procurement Plan is

Under paragraphs 7.8 and 7.9 of the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs), federal entities must keep a current Annual Procurement Plan on AusTender. The Department of Finance says the purpose is to draw the market's early attention to significant procurements the entity plans to run through an open tender within the next 12 months (Planning a procurement (opens in a new tab)).

Each plan has two parts:

  • A strategic procurement outlook. A short statement about the key, major or strategic initiatives the entity expects procurements to come from. Some agencies write one statement; others split it by business area, such as corporate, legal, or information and communications technology.
  • Planned procurements. Individual entries for upcoming purchases.

What each planned procurement shows

Finance requires each planned procurement to include:

  • the subject matter of the procurement
  • the estimated quarter of the financial year when the agency expects to approach the market
  • whether other agencies may be able to use the arrangement
  • the goods and services category code (the UNSPSC code)

The quarters follow the financial year, so Quarter 1 is July to September, Quarter 2 is October to December, Quarter 3 is January to March, and Quarter 4 is April to June. AusTender lets you search the Annual Procurement Plan list (opens in a new tab) by agency, keyword, category and quarter, and add planned procurements to a watch list so you can follow their progress.

Each entry also has a status. "As published" means unchanged since it first appeared, "Amended" means it has changed, "To Market" means it has become an open approach to market, and "Withdrawn" means it has been taken off the plan.

What the plans leave out

Annual Procurement Plans are useful, but they are not a complete list of what an agency will buy. Finance's guidance says:

  • agencies should not include procurements they intend to run as a limited tender
  • they should not include purchases from existing arrangements, such as established panels
  • an agency's accountable authority may choose not to publish a planned procurement, or not to include its details
  • the plans focus on significant procurements, and agencies weigh factors such as likely value and how likely the procurement is to go ahead

So a lot of federal spending never appears in a plan. If a contract you care about was awarded through a panel or a limited tender last time, its replacement may not show up here at all. Our guide to open tenders, limited tenders and panels explains those methods.

How far to rely on them

AusTender puts it plainly: all planned procurements are subject to revision, withdrawal or cancellation, and the information is for planning purposes only. A planned procurement is not a request for tenders and not a commitment by the government to buy. Finance also says agencies should update their plans at least every six months, and that it is appropriate for a plan to change as the agency's needs change.

In practice, treat the estimated quarter as a rough guide. A procurement planned for Quarter 2 may come out later, change shape, or not come out at all. The tender itself, when it opens on AusTender, is what counts.

Using plans alongside end dates

Plans and contract end dates answer different questions. A plan tells you what an agency says it expects to take to open tender in the next year. A contract's end date tells you when current work is due to finish, whether or not the agency has said anything about replacing it.

Putting the two together gives you a fuller picture. If a contract in your area ends next year and the same agency's plan lists a matching planned procurement, that is a good sign a re-tender is coming. If nothing matching appears in the plan, the agency may still extend the contract, buy through a panel, or simply not have updated its plan yet. Our guides on when contracts end and preparing for a re-tender 6 to 12 months out cover what to look for and what to do with the time.

Where Contract Horizon fits

Contract Horizon does not list Annual Procurement Plans. It covers the other half of the picture: federal contracts ending in the next 3 to 12 months, with the agency, supplier, value, end date and an open or limited badge. A free account lets you save a search, get a weekly digest, and add matching end dates to your own calendar, which makes it easy to line them up against the plans you watch. Paid plans add the full list, more saved searches and daily digests, and Pro and Team add the re-tender score, which shows how often that agency has given similar work to a new supplier. The pricing page sets out what each plan includes.

Contract Horizon is an independent reading of the public record. AusTender is always the source to check.