AusTender, step by step.

The path in one table

Step 1: Register on AusTender

Register at tenders.gov.au (“Register”). It’s free.

• Login: your email, a password of at least 14 characters using three of four character types, and a security question.
• Required details: your name, organisation, state or territory, postcode and country. The country list includes every country.
• The ABN field is optional, so an overseas company can register with its home address.
• Choose whether to receive alerts for open opportunities and Planned Procurements.

You must be a registered user to download tender documents and lodge responses. Registration also gives you addendum notices and a watch list. Your AusTender login is separate from the Supplier Portal.

Step 2: Set up alerts and watch the pipeline

• Alerts filter by UNSPSC category, keyword and location. Filters combine (AND), so an alert only fires when everything matches. AusTender itself warns that narrow settings miss opportunities. Start broad.
• Every tender, standing offer and planned procurement carries a UNSPSC code, such as 80100000 for management advisory services.
• Planned Procurements: each agency must keep a current procurement plan on AusTender (CPR 7.8–7.9). It lists significant planned procurements and the expected quarter of the tender. Star them to add them to your watch list. They’re a free view of the pipeline months ahead.

Step 3: Read the approach to market (ATM)

Each ATM page shows:

• the ATM ID, agency and UNSPSC category;
• the close date and time in ACT local time (Canberra);
• the type (RFT, RFQ, EOI), and whether it’s multi-agency, a panel or multi-stage;
• conditions for participation;
• the documents, addenda, contact officer and lodgement page.

Conditions for participation are limited to legal, commercial, technical and financial capacity (CPR 10.14–10.17):

• buyers may require relevant experience, but not previous work with that agency, the Australian Government or a particular location;
• tenderers can be excluded for insolvency, false declarations or serious past performance failures;
• agencies can’t discriminate based on foreign ownership or affiliation (CPR 10.2).

Time to respond: open tenders generally allow at least 25 days, with shorter periods in some cases, such as commercial goods and services.

Questions go to the contact officer by the deadline in the documents. Agencies must answer promptly without giving anyone an unfair advantage. Changes are published as addenda, and you’re emailed about them if you downloaded the documents.

Step 4: Lodge your response

1. Electronic lodgement only. Responses delivered by hand, fax or email aren’t considered.
2. Upload up to 5 files at a time. ZIP files are allowed. The size limit and formats are set in each ATM.
3. Name files clearly, under 100 characters and without special characters.
4. Make the response self-contained, with no hyperlinks. Files with viruses are excluded.
5. You can lodge again while the ATM is open. Uploaded files can’t be withdrawn, so label versions and tell the contact officer which one counts.
6. Keep the receipt. It’s shown on screen and emailed, and it’s conclusive evidence of lodgement. No receipt means the lodgement failed.

Late is late:

• The system closes at the deadline, and its countdown clock is the official time.
• An upload that started before close and finished after it isn’t late, but this only applies to your final upload.
• Late responses must be rejected unless the agency mishandled them (CPR 10.28).
• Practise on AusTender’s DemoATM first. The help desk is open 9am–5pm Canberra time on weekdays.

Step 5: The contract terms you’re agreeing to

For procurements under A$1 million, many agencies use the Commonwealth Contracting Suite (CCS). It’s mandatory under A$200,000 for non-corporate Commonwealth entities.

• Not negotiable: the ATM terms, the contract terms, the standing-offer terms, the glossary and the purchase-order terms.
• Negotiable: any additional contract terms in the ATM.
• By responding, you agree to contract on the Commonwealth terms if you win, so read them before you bid.

Step 6: Get onto panels

Much Commonwealth spending runs through panels (standing offers), and there are more than 500 of them.

• Orders from a panel aren’t openly tendered (CPR 9.12). The only way on is the panel’s open RFT or refresh RFT on AusTender.
• Follow the panel’s Planned Procurement to hear about refreshes.

Some major panels:

Digital and ICT: the Digital Transformation Agency’s marketplaces run through BuyICT. Digital Marketplace Panel 2 reopens to new sellers through regular refresh tenders. BuyICT’s content is now behind a login, so check its current seller requirements when you sign up.

Step 7: The Supplier Portal

The Supplier Portal (suppliers.tenders.gov.au) is a central supplier profile: capabilities, panel contacts, and identifiers such as Australian business, New Zealand business, First Nations, SME and women-owned.

• You don’t need it to bid on tenders. You do need it for panels.
• Rollout:
  • pilot from October 2025;
  • panel suppliers invited from November 2025;
  • open to all businesses from July 2026, starting with ABN holders;
  • non-ABN holders are expected to follow “in the coming months”.
• Names shown come from the Australian Business Register.

ABN and GST for a foreign company

• ABN: a business located outside Australia can get one if it carries on an enterprise in Australia, or makes supplies connected with Australia. A foreign company registered with ASIC (with an ARBN) qualifies if it carries on an enterprise.
• GST:
  • you must register once your GST turnover from sales connected with Australia reaches A$75,000 (A$150,000 for non-profits);
  • below that, registration is voluntary;
  • standard GST registration needs an ABN, and non-residents provide extra proof of identity, which can slow processing;
  • standard-registered non-residents can’t lodge electronically from outside Australia, so many use an Australian tax or BAS agent.

Defence: DISP

The Defence Industry Security Program is required for work classified PROTECTED and above, weapons and explosive ordnance, base security, or where a contract says so.

• Levels: Entry (OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL: Sensitive), Level 1 (PROTECTED), Level 2 (SECRET), Level 3 (TOP SECRET).
• Entry level needs one cyber standard: the Essential Eight, ISO 27001/27002, NIST SP 800-171 or Def Stan 05-138.
• No fee.
• Members must be Australian entities with an ABN. An overseas entity can’t join. A foreign firm can still work on classified contracts if its country has a security agreement with Australia and its facility clearance is recognised government to government.

States and territories

Each state runs its own portal and registration. An AusTender account doesn’t carry over.

Getting paid

From 1 January 2027, non-corporate Commonwealth entities must pay all invoices within 10 business days.

What changed in 2025–2026

• 17 November 2025: updated Commonwealth Procurement Rules (the non-construction threshold rose to A$125,000; construction stays at A$7.5 million). The CCS was updated to match.
• Supplier Portal: piloted October 2025; open to ABN holders from July 2026; non-ABN holders still to come.
• 10-business-day payment for all invoices from 1 January 2027.
• Consultancy reporting: from 1 July 2026, agencies report consultancy contracts of A$2 million or more to Finance each quarter.
• A new Microsoft licensing panel at the Digital Transformation Agency (March 2026).
• NSW eTendering moved to buy.nsw, and TendersVIC was renamed.
• Consultation on a Secure Australian Jobs Framework and changes to the Supplier Code of Conduct (2026).

For the wider rules, including thresholds, the Australian Skills Guarantee and who can bid, see how to bid for government contracts in Australia. For construction, see bidding for public construction contracts abroad.

A sample of Australian tenders closing soon

Australia tenders closing soon

Open now, closing soonest first.

See every open tender in Australia

Questions

Sources

• AusTender: register as a user
• AusTender help: lodging a response
• Department of Finance: Commonwealth Procurement Rules
• Department of Finance: Commonwealth Contracting Suite
• AusTender Supplier Portal
• Australian Taxation Office: GST registration for non-residents
• Defence: Defence Industry Security Program

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.