Creating a healthier, better connected Gippsland.

All About Tenders

Gippsland PHN Funding Application Toolbox

Gippsland Primary Health Network has developed a Gippsland PHN Funding Application Toolkit to provide information and practical resources for service providers to make applications for tenders, grants and Expressions of Interest.

Funding opportunities are advertised on the Gippsland PHN website, via the Gippsland PHN’s newsletters and other communications channels.

Gippsland PHN Tender Toolbox

The Gippsland PHN Tender Toolbox is designed to help you build your Request for Tender response.

Introduction to tendering with Gippsland PHN

Commissioning, Procurement and Tendering Gippsland PHN

New to tendering with Gippsland PHN and  want to know where to get started with Tenderlink?

View a brief presentation here.

Download a supporting document with additional information here.

Download Frequently Asked Questions Tenders and Procurement FAQ.

What is a tender?

A tender is a procurement opportunity where prospective respondents (called ‘Tenderers’) are invited to present a business proposition addressing the requirements published in approach documentation (request for tender specifications and associated attachments).

A Public procurement (public tender) is an approach to all potential tenderers in an open market.

It is offered via a Public Request for Tender using Gippsland PHN’s Tenderlink portal.

Registered users of the portal receive an automatic notification via email when a new Public tender is released.

Registration for the portal is free – go to this link and look for the ‘Registration’ option in the top menu bar.

A Limited procurement (limited tender) is a direct approach to one or more potential tenderers, conducted where there is a limited number of providers available to deliver the required service.

A Limited procurement opportunity is offered via a private Request for Tender sent to the targeted providers only.

Common definitions

Refers to Gippsland, Victoria, which consists of the six Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Bass Coast, South Gippsland, Baw Baw, Latrobe, Wellington and East Gippsland.

Our procurements could be for one, some or all of these LGAs.

A specific and measurable activity designed to indicate progress towards an outcome.  

Expected results from an activity.

Achievement of outcomes is a key step towards meeting our strategic objectives.

Health innovation focuses on the development of new and improved systems, models of care, delivery methods, products and technologies that improve patient health.

Individuals, a group of individuals, organisations or a political entity with a specific stake in the outcome of a decision to the impact of a policy, project or proposition.

Gippsland PHN stakeholders can be broadly grouped into professional stakeholders; including, but not limited to, public and private health care providers, including General Practitioners (GPs), allied health professionals, members, partners, and sector leaders; and Community, consumers and carers who are current or potential users of health services.

Individuals can be both a professional stakeholder and community member, consumer and carer.

A group of people united by physical, social or geographical factors such as age, gender, developmental level, culture, and health or disability status or by a shared perspective.

To affect or have an effect on.

To achieve our vision of ‘a measurably healthier Gippsland’, our activities are aimed at positively impacting the health of our communities.

Quality control of tendering processes – “PROBITY”

The focus on probity is a critical component of our tendering process ensuring that procurement decisions are fair, transparent and defensible.

We do this by:

  • Offering procurement opportunities to an open market wherever possible;
  • Using our TenderLink portal for tender communications to ensure that all Tenderers receive the same information at the same time;
  • Having rigorous processes in place to identify and manage any conflicts of interest;
  • Clearly setting out the evaluation criteria and associated weightings in the approach documentation; and
  • Engaging with external Probity Advisers and Auditors.

Anatomy of a tender

Our tender approach documentation may contain the following documents:

The Tender Specification contains the information that tenderers require to design their tender submission.

Details include:

  • Description of the goods or services to be provided
  • Deliverables and expected outcomes
  • Proposed contract terms
  • Tender evaluation criteria and associated weightings
  • Indicative tender timeline
  • Tender closing time and date
  • Instructions on how to submit the tender response

The Tender Application Form contains direct questions and requests for information that is specifically related to the tender evaluation criteria.

Generally presented as a Word document, tenderers need to complete the Tender Application Form in full and return it as part of their tender submission.

Rows can be added to tables if more space is required for providing a comprehensive answer.

Tenderers should ensure that any separate attachments are clearly labelled and referenced within the Tender Application Form.

The Sample Service Agreement represents the standard agreement template Gippsland PHN will issue to the successful provider after contract negotiations have occurred. This sample agreement includes a link to Gippsland PHN Standard Terms and Conditions.

Tenderers should read the Sample Service Agreement carefully and in the Tender Application Form, nominate any potential deviations or departures that their organisation might wish to discuss during pre-contract negotiations if their tender submission was successful.

Depending on the nature of the services sought, supporting documents may also be provided with the Request for Tender document package.

Supporting documents may give additional or background information on the subject matter, such as geographical maps, statistics, program logics or sample reports that the successful tenderer will be required to present during the delivery of the contract.

Lodging tender submissions with Gippsland PHN

Gippsland PHN only accepts tender submissions lodged via its TenderLink portal.

Registering for the TenderLink portal is a simple process and is free of charge.

Click here and look for the ‘Registration’ option in the top menu bar.

If you have difficulty registering, contact TenderLink’s customer service centre on 1800 233 533 or email them at support@tenderlink.com

Users registered with TenderLink also receive automated email notifications when a new tender is released.

Procurement opportunities are also advertised on our website. Click here to view our current, upcoming and recently awarded tenders.

Evaluating tender submissions

Tenders invited
Tender period closes
Tenders reviewed and evaluated
Consensus process occurs and preferred provider/s identified
Recommendation made and contract negotiations commence
Contracts/s awarded and tenderers notified of outcome
Opportunity for Tender Debriefs

The tender evaluation process is overseen by Gippsland PHN’s Tender Coordinator who provides procedural advice and ensures that probity is maintained at all times.

Tenders are evaluated by a panel of subject matter experts and consumers of the service selected both from within our organisation and from our key stakeholder groups.

All tenders are reviewed against the evaluation criteria stated in the Tender Specifications that form part of the approach documentation. A score out of 10 is allocated for each tender submission against the individual evaluation criteria and the associated weighting is then applied to that score.

The tender evaluation panel meets to discuss the tender submissions and comes to an agreed consensus score for each one. A preferred tenderer is agreed upon and a recommendation to award the contract is made to the Gippsland PHN Executive Team and Board of Directors.

Once the recommendation to award is approved, contract negotiations are entered into with the preferred tenderer/s.

After the contract negotiations are complete, all tenderers are then notified of the tender outcome. The tender outcome will also be published on our website

Unsuccessful tenderers will be invited to request a tender debrief, where feedback will be provided on the quality of the tender submission in relation to the evaluation criteria. Tender debrief sessions are held between representatives from the tendering organisation and representatives from Gippsland PHN on a one-to-one basis. Confidentiality is strictly maintained and commercial-in-confidence information of other tenderers is not discussed. A tenderer requesting a debrief will receive information pertaining to their submission only. This may include discussion of strengths and weaknesses of the response to each evaluation criterion along with what could have been done to achieve a higher score.

Gippsland PHN welcomes the opportunity to provide individual tender debrief sessions as we are committed to:

  • strengthening relationships with existing and potential tenderers;
  • assisting service providers to build their expertise and capacity; and
  • growing our local competitive marketplace.

Helpful hints for tendering with Gippsland PHN

  • Open each document and confirm that it is correctly labelled and is the most current version that you wish to submit.
  • Ensure that all requested documentation is included with your submission – this includes the completed Tender Application Form and any other information that is requested within it.
  • Don’t use special or unique programs to create your tender submission. Only Word documents, PDF documents or Excel spreadsheets are acceptable file types to upload to TenderLink. If you want to present something different, such as a Gantt chart or a drawing file, please save it as a PDF and upload that instead.
  • Long file names can corrupt the file once it is uploaded. This can make it difficult (or sometimes impossible) to open when it comes to opening the tender box and downloading your tender submission, so keep the labelling simple (but clear).
  • Store your submission documents in ONE folder level only. Folders within folders add length to the file names, leaving them open to file corruption as per above.

  • The closing time for tender submissions in the TenderLink portal is precise and the program will automatically cut-off at the specified time (even if your document is partly uploaded).
  • Make sure that you leave plenty of time to upload your submission (aim for the evening before the due date) and have some contingency plans in mind in case you run into technical issues.
  • If you are having trouble uploading to the TenderLink site, speak to TenderLink for technical assistance as soon as possible.
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