AusTender is the Australian Government's procurement information system. Federal agencies use it to publish business opportunities, annual procurement plans, and the contracts they have awarded (Selling to Government (opens in a new tab)). If you want to sell to the Australian Government, it is the first place to look, and registering is free.

AusTender covers federal buying only. State and territory governments publish their opportunities on their own portals (AusTender help (opens in a new tab)).

What is published on AusTender

There are a few kinds of information on AusTender:

  • approaches to market, current and closed: the agency's invitation for suppliers to respond
  • contract notices, which record contracts an agency has entered into
  • standing offer notices, which record panels and similar arrangements
  • annual procurement plans
  • reports

You can search by agency, by category of goods or services, or by closing date. Registering lets you download approach-to-market documents and lodge a response.

Not every opportunity is advertised. Agencies must publish open tenders on AusTender (CPRs paragraph 7.10). For a limited tender, the agency approaches one or more suppliers directly instead.

Contract notices: what was bought, and from whom

Under the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs), non-corporate Commonwealth entities must report contracts valued at $10,000 or more on AusTender within 42 days of entering into them. They must also report amendments that change the value by $10,000 or more (paragraphs 7.18 and 7.19 (opens in a new tab)). Standing offers, such as panels, must be reported within 42 days too (paragraph 7.20). Prescribed corporate Commonwealth entities have higher reporting thresholds.

That makes contract notices a useful public record. They show which agency bought what, from which supplier, for how much, and for how long. Selling to Government suggests using them to identify key competitors and to research what agencies buy.

Annual procurement plans: what agencies expect to buy

Each agency must keep a current procurement plan on AusTender (paragraph 7.8). The plan should list significant planned procurements and the estimated date the approach to market will be published (paragraph 7.9). Treat a plan as a guide, not a timetable. Planned procurements can be revised, withdrawn or cancelled, and agencies can buy things that were never in the plan.

Free alerts, and watching contracts that end

When you register on AusTender, you set your areas of business interest. AusTender then emails you free alerts when new opportunities and planned procurements match your profile. Selling to Government recommends choosing the widest range of relevant keywords so you do not miss anything.

Those alerts tell you about work that is being advertised now, or is planned. By the time an approach to market is open, you usually have weeks to respond, not months.

Watching contracts that are ending works from the other direction. Every contract notice has an end date, so you can see months ahead when an agency's current arrangement for a kind of work runs out. The agency does not have to go back to market, and it may extend instead. Still, an end date gives you time to prepare. The guide to preparing for a re-tender 6 to 12 months out sets out what to do with that time.

The two fit together. Keep your AusTender alerts on for new opportunities, and use contract end dates and annual procurement plans to see what may be coming.

Getting help with AusTender

The AusTender Help and Information Centre (opens in a new tab) has guides on registering, searching, and lodging a response. The AusTender Help Desk answers questions through the Contact Us form on AusTender during business hours on weekdays. Questions about a particular approach to market go to the contact officer named in its documents, not the Help Desk.

Contract Horizon reads AusTender contract notices to list federal contracts ending in the next 3 to 12 months, with the agency, current supplier, value, and end date. It does not list open tenders, so keep your AusTender alerts on as well. A free account lets you save a search, get a weekly digest of matching contracts, and add their end dates to your calendar. Paid plans add the full list, more saved searches, daily digests, and CSV export. Pro and Team also show the re-tender score, which is 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. The contract notice on AusTender is always the source to check.