At The Tender Team, we specialise in helping small businesses across Australia write and win local government and Council tenders. In this case, we explore how we helped a builder based in Perth to win a contract with the City of Perth.

Our client and the opportunity

Our client was a medium sized construction company in Perth that mainly focused on the private sector. They had tendered for state and local government work in the past with no success. They operate in Perth and some parts of regional Australia. An RFT and RFP was released by the City of Perth for the construction of a new government building. It was a medium-sized project (over $10M) that involved all aspects of construction including demolishing existing structures.

Our client:

• Had the necessary experience (private sector) constructing similar size and scope projects across Perth.
• Had a strong presence in Perth and knew the city well.
• Had the resources and capacity to submit a bid. 

This was an excellent public sector contract opportunity for our client and they contact Jason Cooney and our team here at The Tender Team to get professional bid and tender writing help, especially since they kept losing public sector tenders. 

The challenges faced and what we did to help them

We had an initial meeting with the client and reviewed their existing tender documentation as well as the RFP. They faced a number of challenges which they will need to overcome to win the tender including;

• No Indigenous or Modern Slavery plan
• Sub-standard Work Health and Safety and Quality Assurance policies. 
• No CVs for their key personnel
• Limited Public Sector experience
• No consistent key points of difference
• Limited social and local initiatives.

Our team of bid and tender writers helped them overcome these challenges by:

At The Tender Team, our clients help businesses across Australia win bids and tenders by:

• Ensuring you write concisely and evidence-based. We delete any marketing fluff.
• Answering the ‘so what’ that comes to the mind of procurers when reviewing your bid.
• Incorporating infographics and other graphics to communicate complex solutions clearly.
• Project managing the bid writing process to keep it all on track.
• Structuring the response to each question in an easy-to-understand manner.
• Tailoring your response (including social and local benefit) to the community.

We have a 90% tender success rate and help business win tenders with the public and private sector including all levels of government.

Concise and evidence-based writing.

In any bid or tender it’s critical to incorporate evidence throughout your bid. A bid writer will do this throughout the bid preparation process. Each question requires a standalone response and will generally be marked on it’s own merit. That means all of your statements and assertions in the response to each specific question need to be backed up by evidence. Marketing fluff doesn’t cut it. Saying you have ‘Australia’s leading team of electricians’ doesn’t cut it unless you have awards, industry recognition or testimonials to back it up. Wipe out the generic content and keep it concise and specific.

Responding to the ‘so what?’ question.

It doesn’t matter if you are a tradie in Tasmania or a community services provider in Queensland, when you are writing your tender or bid, you need to answer the ‘so what’ that arises in the reviewers mind. A bid and tender writing consultant will help you do that. Well here at The Tender Tem we certainly will. In your tender you will make statements. For example, we have the latest, state of the art building equipment. The reviewer will ask themselves – so what?

You can avoid this by detailing the benefits in your bid. Instead, you could state that you have the latest equipment which will enable you to:

• Limit impact on the environment.
• Adopt a faster program and more efficient building methodology.

Incorporating graphics and infographics

A bid or tender writer will help you integrate graphics and infographics throughout your bid. This involves more than just generating a quick image using AI. Instead we will understand the problem you are solving, the key message you are looking to convey and the solution you have developed and will use these to develop an informative infographic.

Project Managing the Bid and Tender Process

This is where it usually all falls apart. You have the experience, knowledge and expertise. However, you need to manage the tender process whilst running your business. The tender preparation process is demanding particularly towards the end. For example, we recently worked on a bid for a large, national electrical maintenance firm. They were entering into a joint venture with another firm who continuously delayed them through the tender process. This resulted in an intense effort to prepare the tender three days before submission. At the same time, four days before submission they had two key staff fall ill. Our writers were engaged to get involved over the last three days and complete the response.

A professional tender writer will actively project manage the bid process, put in checklists and processes in place, and be the ‘bad guy’ when it comes to chasing up stakeholders for content.

A structured response to each question

In tenders and bids across Australia, no matter if you are bidding to the federal government or a small local Council, what you write compared to how you write is generally more important. I.e. you need to structure your response correctly. At The Tender Team, Our Director, Jason Cooney, is always involved in developing the structure for each response.

A tender or bid writer will help you interpret the question, read between the lines of what they are looking for, and interpret the keywords in the question to ensure you answer it comprehensively. This will help you score the most possible marks and provide a comprehensive response.

Tailoring your response

Tailoring your response is critical to tender success. You need to look at who you are bidding to, what they question asks and what unique challenges you may encounter. Your response needs to show how you will benefit the local community and demonstrate that you have thought through the contract.

Procurement personnel can easily read through generic content. A bid or tender writing professional will take the time to help you tailor your response to the opportunity.

How Jason and our team of writers here at The Tender Team will help you win

Our team has a 90% average success rate. We help businesses from all sectors such as construction, medical, community services and defence win bids and tenders. By executing the above strategies, we will help you efficiently manage the bid and tender writing process and develop a tailored response to any local, state or federal government agency or private company across Australia.

Contact our team today for help with your next bid or tender.

Tender Evaluation Committees across Australia (including federal, state and local government) are looking for the following attributes when reviewing tenders:

1. Compliance with requirements
2. Value for money
3. Risk mitigation
4. Social and local benefits
5. Passion and positivity

With over 17 years writing bids and tenders here at The Tender Team, and having met with many tender evaluation committees, we have a solid understanding of what tender evaluation committees are looking for and what you need to write to win. In 2026, this has evolved with the increase importance on local sourcing and compliance. Government departments (federal, state and local government) for tender evaluation committees to evaluate and score tenders. In our experience they are looking for:

1. Compliance with the requirements – critical to winning a tender.  

In order to even award you the tender, government procurement panels need to ensure you comply with the tender requirements. You need to review the mandatory criteria for the tender, insurances, safety documentation and other requirements and ensure you comply. For safety documentation, tender evaluation committee members are generally looking for supporting documents tailored to the opportunity and the work you do and not generic documentation.

Compliance is a dealbreaker and it’s important to ensure you comply with the requirements so your tender or bid is not disregarded at the start of the process. We have seen this happen to businesses in NSW and Wester Australia over the years as well as on Federal Government tenders.

2. Value for Money – you need to explain it to win. 

Tender Evaluation Committee members and other members of the review panel are generally always looking for value for money. This doesn’t mean they are looking for the lowest price. It means they want to know they are getting a quality service at the right price.

Where you have a focus on whole of life cost (i.e. your tender price may be high but over the course of the contract will end up lower) and or some kind of innovation or value add services, it’s important that you explain these in your bid and quantify them. 

3. Risk mitigation – you need to be a credible supplier to win

This is critical. Your bid or tender needs to show that you are a credible supplier and not a risk. You need to demonstrate professionalism and confidence in your bid. Demonstrate that you have the appropriate contract management processes in place to manage the contract over the long term.

Procurement personnel at local councils such as City of Perth and other government personnel don’t want to select a supplier that will be problematic for them or hard to manage. Present yourself as the least-risky option. 

4. Social and local benefits – you need to deliver them to win

Evaluators and members of the evaluation committee always put a strong focus on social value and how your business will benefit the local community. They expect more than just some commitment you will support a local charity. They want to see local content initiatives that:

• List the local suppliers you will purchase equipment and materials / services from.
• Talk about the % of revenue you will spend locally.
• Detail any local hires and apprentices you may take on as part of the project.
• Explain your local presence and any plans to expand that local presence. 

5. Passion and positivity about the opportunity and project

A bit of personality in your tender and personalising your response certainly helps you win. Evaluators spend their time reading through pages and pages of bids from lots of different businesses. Whether it’s an evaluation committee from the Department of Finance, or a local Council such as City of Sydney, they spend time reviewing bids for different tenders at once on occasion. It’s hard for them to remember business names and companies. You can improve your prospects of winning by:

• Including quotes from your staff throughout your bid.
• Naming your team and adding in profiles of your team members.
• Clearly outline where you existing team’s experience aligns with the requirements of the bid.
• Adopt a positive tone in your writing. 

Call our team of expert tender and bid writers for help

Contact The Tender Team for help with your next bid or tender. We will leverage on our extensive knowledge and deep understanding of what tender evaluation committees are looking for to help you write a winning tender in all industries such as construction, medical and education. Jason Cooney, our Director, brings in-house evaluation committee experience to all our clients and valuable insights into what you need to do to win. 

For subcontractors in Australia, both large and small, a common objective is to break into the Tier 1 Market. The jobs are larger, there is a lot more money in it, and the projects are generally long-term. Winning a contract with Multiplex, Lendlease, CPB Contractors or even Built, give your operation more credibility and can lead to substantial growth for your business.

Moving into the Tier 1 sector is similar to moving into Government tenders but generally even more competitive. You need to:

1. Adhere to increased safety and quality documentation requirements. You generally need to not only be ISO certified, but also comply with their specific certification requirements.
2. Compete with other sub-contractors who are pricing aggressively to win work.
3. Have the patience to be firm, especially when negotiating pricing.
4. Ensure you get paid and are across payment terms and other contractual requirements.
5. Provide other supporting documentation requirements that need to mirror government project requirements for local content and modern slavery.

In this guide we will discuss how you can break into the Tier 1 market and win large construction tenders.

The lowest price doesn’t always help you win. Win on value.  

It’s important to win on value and quality. Of course there is price pressure on Tier 1 contracts, however, it’s certainly not the only factor. Tier 1 head contractors are generally working on multi-million-dollar projects with tight construction schedules and robust project management plans in place. Liquidated damages clauses are common, and they need subcontractors that have priced the tender fairly to enable them to complete the works.

When putting your tender together you need to prove to the Tier 1 contractor that you:

• Have the capacity and resources to deliver the works / project. They will look at your current workload and resources allocation as well as your proposed teams.
• The financial stability and history to runt the project (and pay your personnel whilst awaiting payment from the contractor).
• The safety procedures that mirror those of the contractor and all the associated documentation.
• The credibility to deliver on site and work on site seamlessly.

In addition to having a competitive price, if you want to win work with a Tier 1 or even Tier 2 construction contractor in Australia you have to prove that you are a safe bet that will not cause any unnecessary hassles.

Quality Assurance: Reputation helps, however, for Tier 1 contracts you need to have evidence that you have quality assurance processes in place and a quality focused culture. Defect management workflows, ad-hoc inspections of your staff and integrating quality assurance checks into your methodology are all critical.

Many sub-contractors import materials directly from overseas with many lower tier builders not requiring verification. Tier 1 contractors will request steel and concrete specifications and you need to ensure you have this in place and your supply chains adhere to modern slavery requirements.

Workplace Health, Safety & Environment: Generally speaking, you need certified ISO 145001 documentation in order to win a contract with a Tier 1 contractor. If you don’t have it in place, and can’t get it in place in time, then you need to have documentation in place that mirrors the relevant ISO requirements and is also tailored to the project. Your SWMS need to be tailored to the project (they will review this) and you also need to detail your safety record.

Social procurement and local content – the edge to helping you win

A lot of the time you may have a secret weapon to win contracts with Tier 1 and other large contractors, or even large government contracts in Australia, which you don’t even know exists. When Tier 1 contractors bid or tender for government projects, they make commitments to support local suppliers and social groups.

These commitments are now quantified and there are strict targets in place. You can help them achieve these targets if you are a local supplier or have some other social value. Therefore, it’s an excellent idea to audit your business and personnel and identify if you:

• Employ any Indigenous personnel or are Indigenous owned. If so, focus on this in your tender.
• Employ people from vulnerable groups, such as disabled workers or even a high percentage of women.
• Or your staff and workers are based in the local area in which the project will take place.
• If you purchase off any local suppliers.

If this it the case, this may make you a preferred contractor for Tier 1 and even Tier 2 builders on projects across Australia as the you may help them comply with their local content and social procurement

Make your bid easy for estimators to read

Most estimators review hundreds of quotes for any specific project. You need to create a table to summarise how you comply with all the requirements, and set your quote out in an easy to read manner. The critical information should be easily identifiable, and everything needs to be neatly, concisely and clearly presented.

How do we start winning bids with Tier 1 contractors?

Speak to our team today about how we can help you grow your business. Here at The Tender Team, we have a track record of helping subcontractors grow their businesses and win major construction and infrastructure contracts across Australia including in states such as NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA and beyond.

Our director, Jason Cooney, specialise in helping subbies win large contracts and area ready to help you find and win more bids.

Contact our team today at info@thetenderteam.com.au or call us to review your next Tier 1 opportunity.

Panels have rapidly increased in popularity in 2025 and 2026 as government departments across federal, state and local government increasingly adopt panels as a chosen form of procurement. That means that there are less open RFT opportunities and a shift towards panel-first buying by procurement teams. It also means that for any small, medium or large business across Australia, being appointed to panels has been become absolutely critical.

Our team of bid and tender writers has helped over 127 businesses get appointed to key long term panels.

Why are there less open tenders available to bid for?

Open RFTs are expensive, complex, time consuming and involve a lot of compliance review. Many of them include the same procurement and compliance related questions for every bid, and they usually take a minimum of four weeks to run. There is also substantial due diligence that has to be undertaken each time.

State, local and federal government are now leaning towards purchasing from panels. For example, the Buy NSW and Buying for Victoria platforms are now generally geared towards panel tenders. When government procurement teams put a panel together, they know they can quickly and easily procure from that panel for mini / specific tenders, and don’t need to go through the entire RFP process.

This also means of course that businesses must win panel appointments and tenders when they are released and put the required resources, effort and focus into the bid.

How to win work once you are appointed to the panel

The reality is that being appointed to the panel is only the first step. It’s also a dealbreaker and the most important step. Once you are appointed to the panel you will have access to closed RFQs where only a small number of pre-approved businesses are invited to bid.

This is a distinct advantage. For example, we had a roofing and maintenance client who won a critical panel appointment for a large educational institution in NSW. They were appointed along with three other providers, all of whom were national businesses. Our client was a relatively small local contractor. There were concerns by the procurement team about capacity – i.e. the national providers being at capacity and comprising on quality. As a result, our client tendered for work at the University and over a number of months slowly grew in terms of revenue, size and personnel. Being appointed to the panel gave him access to this opportunity which he wouldn’t have had if they were all open tenders.

The difference between always open panels and fixed terms panels. Why it’s important go get access to both.

Some panels are open panels which means that they always remain open and you can put in a submission for them at any time. We generally recommend submitting when these panels first open as it’s sometimes easier to be appointed. However, you can put forward a submission at any time and be appointed. This is excellent, particularly if you are looking to service a client who requires you to be on a certain government panel and you are able to make a submission to be appointed and win the work.

Fixed term panels are different and are a lot more of a dealbreaker. They open for a specific period of time, such as a month or six weeks, similar to an open tender, and then they are fixed usually for 3 – 5 years. Regardless of if you are a legal firm in Perth or a Plumber in Victoria, these are must-win panels and you need to put all of your resources and effort into ensuring you are successful so you can secure work for the next 3 – 5 years.

Different writing strategies for panel bids compared to project bids

Here at The Tender Team, we recommend taking a different approach depending on if you are bidding for a panel or specific project. It all starts with your mindset, strategy and approach. Pan

Panel Bids:

• You are not bidding for one specific project. But rather, a number of different projects. Your bid needs to demonstrate your capacity, capability and compliance.
• You need to show that you can deliver a consistent service over the long term and can grow with the contract. I.e. you have processes to grow your business and hire new personnel in a sustainable manner. Imagine a small maintenance business that is appointed to a panel with a lot of work. Your business will naturally grow and you need to show that you can maintain response times and service larger volumes at the same time. You will also need to have a capital expenditure plan for tools and equipment.
• You need to put forward flexible pricing options. As you are not aware of the type of projects that will come up.

Project Bids:

• You need to put forward a strong methodology for the specific project. Show that you have thought through the project and understand the potential challenges.
• Put forward you’re A-team for the project. This is critical and means you need to focus on your capacity for the proposed project.

Why businesses across Australia need to get onto government panels?

The answer is simple. It can lead to a strong flow of work over the long term, and if you don’t get on, it can lock you out of opportunities. We have encountered many businesses across Australia, from lawyers and professional service providers to tradies and community service providers, who are simply locked out of opportunities as they are not on the relative panels. For one recent client, the government department told them they are the only consultancy with the specialist experience they require, but were still unable to engage them as they were not on the respective panel.

We’ve helped businesses in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane enter into JVs with businesses on the panel in order to service the clients. However, this is often a complex and risky route and getting on the panel in the first place is usually your best bet.

Call our team of bid and tender writers today

Our team of bid and tender writers will help you:

• Write your tender
• Get appointed to key panels
• Grow revenue and not miss out on any key opportunities.

Call 0410 448 770 or email info@thetenderteam.com.au