Council’s procurement objectives
Council commits to undertake all procurements in support of the following procurement principles.
- Value for Money
- Risk management
- Modern slavery mitigation
- Management of Work Health and Safety
- Environmental sustainability
- Equal opportunity and social inclusion
- Prioritisation of local procurement
Muswellbrook Shire Council undertakes its procurement activities in accordance with NSW Local Government Act 1993 and Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 (Part 7 – Tendering).
Download our Procurement Policy for more information on the procurement principles.
Council’s procurement pathways
Council undertakes its procurements through three main pathways:
1. Establishment of panel contracts
Where a repetitive need for goods, services or works is uncovered, Council may establish panel contracts to streamline day-to-day operational processes. These term of use contracts constitute standing offers from suppliers, often with fixed rates, that Council staff can access without having to go to market and obtain quotations. Panel contracts are established through open tender processes, either by Council directly or by a procurement aggregator (Regional Procurement Initiative, Local Government Procurement or Procurement Australia) on Council’s behalf.
View Local Government Procurement’s indicative Tender Program here.
2. Requests for quotation via the Go-to-Market platform on VendorPanel
Where no pre-established panel contract exists, Council staff may request quotations from suppliers on a case-by-case basis. For any procurements above $5,000 incl. GST, the request for quotation process must be administered through Council’s Go-to-Market platform VendorPanel. Suppliers can register for the public marketplace for free, ensuring that Council staff (and other users) are aware of their business presence and can issue Requests for Quotation.
3. Open tenders or expressions of interest (administered via the Go-to-Market platform on VendorPanel)
For procurements above $250,000 incl. GST, Council has a legislative requirement to conduct a tender process. Any such tender processes are administered via Council’s Go-to-Market platform VendorPanel. Suppliers signed up on the Go-to-Market platform to the relevant categories will receive an alert of the tender. In addition, tenders are advertised on Council’s Facebook page and in selected newspapers.
Council may choose to issue an invitation for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to the open market, to determine interest of the market and/or potential solutions to a certain requirement. EOI processes may be followed by a selective tender or quotation process and are also managed on Council’s Go-to-Market platform VendorPanel.
