Helping you win government contracts

Our team of bid and tender writers here at The Tender Team are based in Sydney (our head office) and across Australia. Our success rate to date for all Government tenders is 92%.

With over 70% of the tenders we work on being government tenders, we have a track record of:

• Writing winning government contracts for our clients across all levels of government.
• Creating supporting documentation for government tenders.
• Helping clients find and win more government contracts including specialist contracts such as for the Department of Defence.

Government tenders are becoming increasingly competitive as businesses seek to penetrate the federal, state and local government space. Leading government departments drive cost savings through culling service provider panels, and they often use the tender process to achieve this. Furthermore, Government procurement guidelines are becoming more complex at all levels with an increase in request for information and documentation seemingly unrelated to the core product such as WHS and quality control procedures.

Our consultants complete hundreds of government tenders on a monthly basis and are skilled in understanding and adhering to their requirements. We understand the political motivations and implications behind tenders, as well as the need to provide constructive and relevant responses to seemingly simple questions on what may be considered irrelevant issues.

Our team of bid writers has a track record of:

• Writing winning tenders and bids to the federal government
• Helping our clients respond to RFPs and RFTs from state governments
• Win contracts with their local Councils

We have experience across all industries from professional services to construction.

Australian Federal Government Bids

We have an impressive track record of delivering results and will work closely with you to draft exemplary responses to government tenders in order to give your business the best chances of success. A sample of strategies we employ to draft successful government tenders include:

• Adopting a clear, concise and persuasive writing style
• Write with a confident tone that conveys credibility and professionalism
• Support statements and representations with evidence
• Incorporate facts, figures and statistics
• Tailor environmental and other policies to your organisation
• Use government ‘buzz’ words
• Incorporate graphs and other graphical mediums to convey complex information.

We pride ourselves on assisting clients to increase their win rate for government tenders. Our team has experience drafting tenders across a range of industries, from defence, to equipment supply and biomedical. We are available on a 24/7 basis on 0410 448 770 and provide a responsive and flexible service. Federal Government departments our team has successfully helped our clients secure contracts with include:

• Services Australia – for a broad range of contracts including a number of community and social services contracts.
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO) –  For IT and finance services as well as valuation services.
• Department of Defence – For a broad range of defence and non-defence products and services.
• Department of Home Affairs: For a broad range of services including security services and business automation and processing.

State Government Tenders and Bids

State government tenders often require you to provide extensive paperwork, including support documentation and answers to complex project management questions. We have experience writing State Government tenders across Australia.

Victoria (Vic) Government Tenders

Our team of bid and tender writers are based in Melbourne and have strong experience writing proposals and responding to Victorian government RFPs and RFTs. In particular, we have experience helping business respond to and adhere to the the Victorian Government:

• Procurement policy
• Sustainability policy
• Indigenous procurement policy
• Local jobs first policy.

Key strategies we recommend to win contracts with the Victorian government include:

• Incorporating with themes that align with the policies and vision of the individual government department. For example, the Victorian Department of Health has it’s own specific policies and vision.
• Adhering to the local jobs first policy and quantifying and detailing how you will comply with it.
• Showcasing any other economic and social benefits that will flow through to the community as a result of the contract.
• Highlighting any previous government experience especially in Victoria – and tying in your systems and reporting procedures help you align with government contract requirements.
• Demonstrate your passion for Victoria. 

Western Australia (WA) Government Tenders

Since writing our first Western Australian government tender in 2013, we have written bids and tenders to the WA government consistently over the past twelve years across all different industries and sectors. Our team has an 89% success rate writing bids and tenders in Western Australia and we have helped clients win government contracts in Western Australia across all industries including:

• Health
• Construction
• Maintenance
• Community services
• Defence

Strategies we employ and recommend to win government contracts in Western Australia include:

• Detailing a comprehensive plan for servicing regional and remote locations. This applies to nearly all government departments in Western Australia. Your service plans needs to foresee and mitigate any potential issues servicing regional and remote locations.
• Talk about your personnel and their expertise and relate them to the proposed service and contract. You need to focus on the experience and expertise of your personnel in managing and navigating government contracts.
• Show an appreciation and insight into the challenges Western Australia faces. This helps demonstrate your locality and insight. When responding to a government tender, it’s important to show the procurement personnel that you know Western Australia and its challenges. Regardless of your industry, demonstrating knowledge of challenges such as lack of human resources, servicing different community groups, and changing demographics are important as far as they impact your service or contract.

New South Wales (NSW) Government Tenders

Our business was established in Sydney in 2007. Jason Cooney, our Director, is a Sydney resident with a strong knowledge of regional NSW. We are proud of our 92% success rate in helping clients win tenders with the NSW government. Our team has:

• A track record of success writing bids to all NSW Government departments such as Transport for NSW.
• Experience across all industries. We have helped Tier-1 construction companies win contracts for billion dollar infrastructure projects, and national law firms become appointed to NSW Government panels.
• Specialist experience in professional services – our Director, Jason Cooney, was the in-house tender writer for a national law firm prior to establishing The Tender Team. He is will regarded in legal circles for winning and retaining both the Sydney Water contract as well as the TfNSW contract.
• Experience in winning multi-billion dollar contracts such as WestConnex and the M7, whilst also helping boutique consultancies and product suppliers secure contracts with NSW Health.

Strategies we employ to help you win NSW Government Tenders:

• Quantify everything and provide evidence throughout the bid. Our team has been involved in many tender debriefs over the years with NSW Government procurement personnel. They often express frustration about generic information in bids and tenders. It’s important to quantify as much as possible and include evidence including third-party evidence throughout your bid.
• Write concisely. This applies to all government bids, not just NSW. Government bids are highly competitive and often very popular. We have written tenders to Sydney Water where there have been 120 applicants for a three panel contract. Use bullet points and write in a structured manner.
• Provide a practical explanation on how you will apply quality assurance and health related procedures. It’s easy to attach a policy in your bid. It’s harder to integrate what is in that policy into your methodology, reporting and other aspects of your proposal. this is worthwhile and helps you score better for all questions.
• Demonstrate your local capabilities of course and detail key NSW-based suppliers in your supply chain.

Queensland (QLD) Government Tenders

We have broad experience helping businesses win contracts with the Queensland Government. Our success rate in QLD Government tenders over 2024 and 2025 is 92%. Our experience includes:

• Writing tenders to QLD Government departments including Queensland Health
• Winning a number of Queensland Government contracts for clients in the IT and ICT sector.
• Tender identification services including opportunities in QTenders and Business Queensland.

Strategies to help you win Queensland Government tenders:

• Directly and comprehensively address the core Queensland procurement requirements including:
  • Delivering value for money
  • Social and environmental responsibility
  • Local content (often a dealbreaker)
  • Innovation
  • Quality assurance.
• Develop a comprehensive local content plan. This goes beyond putting forward some numbers of how many locals you will hire and what percentage of local supplier you will use. You need to personalise it and name the exact people and local suppliers you propose to engage.
• Be a Queenslander. It’s important to give your bid a Queensland spirit. Whether or not its in your graphics, testimonial or quotes from your staff, this spirit appeals to government procurement teams and sends a strong, focused message.

Northern Territory (NT) Government Tenders and Bids

Our Director, Jason Cooney, took his first business trip to the Territory in 2014 and has been regular ever since. We are a proud ‘adopted’ Territorian business and have an 87% success rate helping businesses win contracts in the Territory.

Our team has helped businesses win contracts with all government departments such as:

• DIPL
• Power Corporation
• Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade
• Northern Territory Department of Education

Strategies to help you win Northern Territory government tenders

Our bid writers will employ strategies to help you win Northern Territory government tenders including:

• Reding through and interpreting the RFP or RFT including searching competitors and reading between the lines for what they are looking for.
• Developing comprehensive remote and regional service plans as part of your bid.
• Writing easily quantified and measurable indigenous procurement plan initiatives so the government knows you are serious and practical.
• Focus on being a Territorian and spreading the benefits of the contract across the Territory.

Our team of tender writers will employ these and other strategies to help you win government contracts in the Northern Territory.

South Australia (SA) Government Tender Writing

We have a 90% win rate across 2023, 2024 and 2025 for tenders to the South Australian government. Our team’s winning experience includes:

• Writing winning government bids for building, maintenance, IT and professional services sectors.
• Writing bids in the Defence industry and the Defence services sectors.
• Assisting national and international clients to secure grants and other funding for community and Defence programs some of which have national significance.

Strategies you can employ to win more tenders with the South Australian government include:

• A focus on local industry, not just local jobs. In South Australia there is a strong focus on developing industries. This isn’t restricted only to jobs. You need to talk about skills transfer, apprenticeships and how your bid will help enhance industries (for example upskilling residents of South Australia) or potentially build industries. They generally take a broader view of industry development than in other states.
• Spread the benefits across SA. It’s tempting just to talk about Adelaide. However, it’s important to talk about how you will ensure the benefits of the contract will be spread across South Australia.
• Use government language. Write passionately and adopt government language especially the values, language and goals outlined by the specific South Australian government department.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government Tenders

With a strong focus on Federal Government tenders, our team has developed a presence in the ACT since 2015 and has since helped clients win numerous ACT Government and federal government contracts. Our team has:

• Achieved success writing winning tenders to all ACT Government agencies, such as Infrastructure Canberra.
• Helped a number of medical and allied health firms secure and retain multiple contracts with the ACT Government.
• A comprehensive and working understanding, based from direct experience, of what ACT government procurement personnel are looking for in bids and tenders.

Strategies our expert bid writers (and you) can employ to help you win ACT Government tenders include:

• Highlighting your contract management skills. Whether it is reporting, administration or compliance with KPIs, your internal processes for managing a government contract are critical. You need to detail these in your proposal as well as designate an account manager.
• Demonstrate your knowledge of the ACT. It’s a relatively small territory so this part is relatively simple. However, you need to show a comprehensive knowledge of the Territory – not only Canberra, the issues that face it, and how your proposed contract fits in.
• Be methodical and detailed. You need to spell everything out in ACT government tenders and take a highly detailed approach to your bid. Write concisely and use word limits wisely.

Contact our Director, Jason Cooney, on 0410 448 778 or info@thetenderteam.com.au to talk about how we can assist with your next government tender.

Our comprehensive government experience

Our experience writing government tenders extends across all industries from construction to health and equipment supply. Our team:

• Has been writing winning tenders to government since 2007.
• Has won over 1 Billion dollars worth of government tenders, bids and contracts.
• Helps clients every step of the way including project managing responses, writing responses and submission.
• Provide a spare resource for busy in-house teams.
• Is experienced in federal, state and local government bids.

Seven expert strategies to help you win more government tenders

We adopt industry leading proposal writing strategies to help you win government tenders. These include:

1. Showcase your understanding of local issues in your tender

Talking about being a local/state supplier is critical and detailing how your bid will benefit the local/state community, economy and environment is also important. However, you can be sure that your competitors also know this and will be focusing on local/state benefits. You can set yourself apart by talking about challenges faced by the government, particularly at state and local level, and how your proposal will help address any of these issues.

2. Adopt government wording and language to win

This is a bit more work than it sounds. You need to adopt the wording used by the specific government department you are bidding to. Take the time to research their vision, goals and any operational plans and align your bid to their operational plans, ensuring that you integrate (and reference where applicable) their working into your RFP or RFT response.

3. Showcase your contract management capabilities

The last thing the government wants is to award a contract to a contractor or business that is hard to manage and doesn’t comply. Throughout your bid, demonstrate that you have quality control processes in place, and that you have assigned personnel in your team to comply with admin and compliance requirements.

4. Quantify everything and provide evidence throughout your bid

Procurement personnel in government take a highly methodical approach to reading and reviewing tenders. They have a keen eye for detail and can read through any marketing ‘fluff’. In order for your bid to be credible, you need to include facts and figures, and provide evidence (including from third parties) throughout your bid.

5. Tender for contracts you can deliver on

Government contracts at local, state and federal levels are highly competitive. There is no real point in bidding for them if you don’t have the relevant experience and expertise. It also helps to be based in the specific state or local government area, although this isn’t a dealbreaker. Only tender for contracts you can deliver on.

6. Factor in the cost of servicing the government into your tender and costs

There are often hidden and added costs to doing business with the government compared to the private sector. There are also advantages. When you are developing your pricing, be sure to consider and possibly factor in the administration and reporting costs associated with managing a government contract.

7. Write to win and with a winning attitude

Your writing needs to be confident and personalised where possible. It’s a great idea to integrate your team members throughout your bid, write with confidence, and focus on how you will deliver. Adopt the active voice to give the procurement team the confidence that you can and will deliver is appointed.

Contact Jason Cooney, our Director, on 0410 448 7770 or info@thetenderteam.com.au for assistance putting these strategies into practice on your next bid or to find out more strategies.

Local Government and Council

Many of our clients are small businesses that are eager to get started on their first government contracts such as local council tenders. While large scale tenders more often than not can be out of reach for some of our client base (especially relatively new businesses), local council tenders are an excellent and appropriate opportunity to service major clients directly within our clients’ backyard.

Our service extends across Australia from regional Councils in Northern Territory to drafting tenders for Randwick City Council in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. We are passionate about helping our small and medium business clients win local government tenders.

Contact our team to discuss how we can help you win your next bid

Our team is available around the clock to help you respond to your next government RFP. We will help you:

• Write your government tender or bid
• Comply with the tender requirements
• Put forward a professional looking proposal
• Project manage the response from start to finish.

Call today our Director, and Government tender writing specialist, Jason Cooney on 0410 448 770 or email info@thetenderteam.com.au to arrange a quote.

Client testimonials

We tender often to the private sector but never government. This is mainly due to the fact that we are a sub-contractor to Tier-1 construction companies. We decided to bid for a government contract for a fairly large project and go direct. It was our first time tendering to government and we certainly needed help. There were a lot of questions that are generally not covered in private sector bids. We engaged The Tender Team as another sub-contractor had recommended Jason and his team. We had a very positive experience and a positive outcome. The Tender Team excel and are definitely one of the best when it comes to government tenders. They know all the requirements, speak the government language and add in great ideas and value added services which essentially put the government procurement teams in a good frame of mind when reviewing our bids.

The team is very efficient and professional, they respond to your emails quickly and we could see our tender or bid taking shape throughout the process so it’s very transparent. Overall, if you want help winning government tenders, I can recommend The Tender Team.

Tony C | Mid-Tier Contractor (Construction) | Sydney

We are a plumbing contractor based in Adelaide and we were completing a Council tender. We have held the contract for over 12 years and this was the first time it had been put out to tender. We certainly needed to win it – it was an absolute must-win for our business. We had all the experience and expertise but it quickly become obvious to us that we needed some help writing the proposal. We spoke to a few tender writing consultancies and eventually chose to use The Tender Team. We were very happy with their service and they helped us answer all of the questions – including all the hard questions on local content and equipment and innovation. They worked well with us, including all of our admin team, to get the required documentation and deliver a quality bid. Overall, we were very happy with the service and all the tender writing help provided by Jason and The Tender Team and will use them for our next tender.

Jake T | Plumbing Contractor | Adelaide – South Australia

FAQ – Our Government Tender Writing Service

Are government tenders different to other tenders from the private sector? Do you have experience in both?

Yes. We have worked on both Government and Private sector bids and tenders across Australia. Government tenders often have more compliance requirements than private sector tenders. In addition, the procurement process is generally more formal with government tenders and there is an increased focus on local / social value.

Government tenders have a set weighting criteria which they need to follow and there is often slightly less focus on price. In addition, there is more risk in non-compliance so you need to make sure everything is 100% correct.

Within government bids, federal, state and local government bids all have different requirements and a slightly different flavour in your writing is required to win them. When bidding for a local Council contract, you need to focus on how you will contribute to the local ecoconmy.

Will I increases my chances of winning government tender if I use The Tender Team or another expert writer rather than writing it myself?

We would certainly like to think so. If it is your first time tendering or you have a small internal team, we can bring our understanding of best practice from different industries in order to strengthen your bid and increase your prospects for success. So we can certainly help you win. Sometimes, where we work for larger companies with established bid teams, we note that you more than likely write exceptional bids and tenders and we can certainly write to your standard and release the workload from you.

It depends on who you are and what experience you have writing bids and tenders.

Can I complete a government tender myself or will I need the support of The Tender Team?

You can generally complete a government tender in Australia yourself if you have some solid writing skills and the time to dedicate to it. With our team of writers from The Tender Team supporting you, you can rest assured our writers will work with you to develop a compliant and compelling tender proposal or RFP response that boosts your prospects of success.

We also provide a read and review process whereby we read your tender at first draft stage and provide you guidance on what to improve. This ensures your bid is on track and the time you are spending writing your tender is time well spent.

Some industries are more complicated than others and some tender ask for a lot more supporting documentation that others so it generally depends on how complex the RFI or RFT documents are.

We have just started writing a government tender. Where should we start and what is the first thing we should do or work on?

We recommend you start by creating a compliance list of all the questions and supporting documentation you require for the bid. Then you need to sought this list for any lead times (i.e. if it takes for example two weeks to get a licence or other certificate). After that you need to start to work on the requests that have the longest lead times.

Will The Tender Team help us submit our government tender from start to finish or will we need to submit it?

We can certainly help you submit the bid from start to finish. This includes submission especially with online portals where you may not be confident using online portals. From a confidentiality perspective, if you would like to keep your pricing confidential, that is fine. We can write the entire bid and you can submit the bid together with your pricing.

When you engage us to assist with a government tender we will be with you every step of the way.

When we engage a tender consultant such as your consultancy, how will the writing process work for us when using you?

We will work with you collaboratively and constructively and will lead the way in terms of writing and submitting the bid. We have an internal system and process to ensure we create a checklist and will provide you clear instructions on what information we require. Once you provide us the input (either by phone, bullet points, even hand written notes, we will write the tender for you.

Throughout the process we will send you draft tender responses to review and provide further input up until sign-off.

Where we require information from your employees or other stakeholders, we will chase up that information as required.

If we get The Tender Team to write our government tender, what information will you need from us and how much time will we have to provide it?

The information and documentation required for every tender is different. All we can say as a general guide is that we will need a fair bit of information irrespective if you are writing a construction tenders, medical tender or professional services bid.

We will give you as much time as possible to provide the input we need to help you win your government contract and it’s one of the first things we do when working with you. Generally speaking 1 – 3 weeks is an approximate amount of time.

Will the tender team keep all our information confidential?

Yes of course. Most definitely and it will be kept stored on storage servers in Australia. We also have a strict conflict of interest policy and do not believe in Chinese Walls. If we are working on your government tender, it will be our only focus.

Can The Tender Team help me make my bid or proposal look for polished by creating nice looking graphics and infographics?

Yes. Although increasingly government procurement departments and procurement teams are increasingly moving away from requesting proposals with fancy graphics and are using excel to receive information and responses.

How long will it take to write the tender if we get a tender or bid writing consultant to help us write it?

It depends on the size of the tender. The quickest we have ever written a bid is five days and the longest it has taken is six months for a large infrastructure bid.

I need a specialist government tender writer. Can you help?

Yes. We specialise in government tenders and bids. Over 70% of the bids and proposals our firm writes are to the government sector. We can help with responding to RFPs from all levels of government and we have specialise expertise in defence contracts which are highly complex.

Is there a tender writer in Melbourne that specialises in Government bids and can help us?

Yes. The Tender Team is based in Sydney and Melbourne and has writers across the country. We have experience writing government bids in Melbourne.

Can small businesses win government tenders? What can we do to win?

Yes they certainly can. We have helped lots of SMEs write and win government contracts. This extends to local, state and federal government contracts. We have helped small tradies and other community businesses win contracts with the local government, as well as high-level boutique consultancies win federal government tenders and bids. Our writers here at The Tender Team love helping small and medium sized businesses win contracts. It’s generally a personal and exciting journey where we work closely with you and get to see the positive effects it has on your business if you are successful.

Do you assist businesses from all industries?

Yes of course. We assist businesses from all industries such as building and construction, health, defence, maintenance, community services, not for profit, allied health, equipment supply and operations.

Key components of Government Tenders

Tendering Conditions

These conditions are more concerned with the structure and style of a bid response over its substance. They cover aspects of a tender such as preliminary site meetings and discussions for all interested applicants. These meetings themselves are often mandatory and we always advise our clients that participation is strongly encouraged in order to peruse the location for a tender’s requirements and to pose as an opportunity to clarify or delve further information on the products/services necessary for the tender’s fulfillment.

Other aspects of the tender are also covered under these conditions such as the amendment procedure that consists of limited back and forth between our clients and the tender evaluation panel on sections within the RFT that are incorrect or need further clarification. As a result, there are strict regulated processes on the implementation of new addendums that can possibly affect our clients’ bid responses as a whole depending on their nature.

Conditions also extend to the late acceptance or rejection of tenders themselves if they are submitted in an incorrect format. We always closely review these processes as all the hard work and effort put into a comprehensive bid response can be rejected on the basis of submission past the deadline or formatting mistakes that an evaluation panel simply would not accept.

In addition, the following conditions are usually specified as below;

• Tender validity period
• Alternative or non-conforming tenders
• Variation of tenders
• Opening of tenders

Contract Conditions

Moving away from the general tender conditions, the contract conditions for many local council tenders are obviously more legally focused, adhering to all relevant laws and regulations that are covered by the tender itself.

While we will always alert our clients to any terms or clauses that may conflict with their operations, there is always no excuse for any tenderer to closely review the contract themselves.

Like most legal documents, contract conditions specify all the details for how the tenderer will plan, deliver and support their products and/or services. Unlike the tender conditions, contract conditions are more concerned with what happens after our clients have been selected as the winning bidder as opposed to submitting the tender itself.

Furthermore, local council tenders often cover the following specialised contract conditions;

• Issues Reporting and Resolution
• Communication Requirements
• Standards
• Work by Others
• Project Duration
• Site Access and Security Measures

Specification

Alongside the contract conditions, we consult with the client closely on all parts of the specification for the tender. The specification is concerned with all of the following details;

• What exact products/services are required?
• Where do they need to be located?
• When do they need to be provided?
• Why are they required?

We always advise our clients that paying close attention to the specification is paramount for a relevant and effective bid response. The worst-case situation would be to provide a response that has misread the original specification and ultimately offers the tender evaluation panel something they don’t actually need or ever asked for. For local councils, we consult with our clients on how best to tailor their responses on a smaller scale to efficiently meet council needs.

Non-Price response schedule

This section is the main part of the bid response and where we consult closely with our clients to help persuade the tender evaluation panel of their competitive advantage and values.

In a non-price response schedule, all manner of questions will be asked on our clients such as the following;

• General information such as contact details, business structure and key personnel
• Client history and personal/business references
• OHS/WHS, quality and environmental management plans and more

A good bid response for local council tenders will adequately cover all questions asked with logical and clearly structured, factual answers. From completing a non-price response schedule, our clients have covered how their bid response is more competitive, from multiple perspectives, over other bidders. With The Tender Team, we focus our efforts mostly on this section to the client’s benefit and ensure that their response satisfies all tender requirements while distinguishing ourselves from the competition.

Price Response Schedule

While The Tender Team does not consult on price responses for our clients’ bids, we always encourage our clients to complete their pricing schedules as the first step whenever possible. Pricing is an extremely important part of any bid response and often is a leading criteria for being selected as the winning bid.

How we will help you win government tenders 

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first opportunity to present your bid response in a positive and effective manner. It is critical that you clearly articulate your key differentiators.

Exemplary executive summaries will cover your organisations:

• Identity – Who you are.
• History – What you have accomplished.
• How your proposed products and /or services will be able to address the tender requirements.

Email info@thetenderteam.com.au with your RFT documents and we will immediately provide an indicative fee proposal. Alternatively, call our Director, Jason Cooney, on 0410 448 770.