Tenders ACT · Live feed
Canberra is the centre of Australian government technology procurement — here is how the Territory and Commonwealth markets actually work.
Canberra is the most important city in Australia for government technology procurement, and the reason is structural: nearly every Commonwealth department is headquartered there, and Commonwealth ICT spending dwarfs every state technology budget. The ACT Government adds its own Territory-level procurement for digital services, infrastructure and applications. Critically, most Commonwealth ICT work is bought through panels and standing offers rather than open tenders, which means panel access is the single most important commercial objective for an ICT supplier serious about government work.
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Tenders ACT carries Territory government ICT procurement including digital services, infrastructure, applications and support contracts. The much larger Commonwealth market appears on AusTender, but a critical structural point applies: a large share of Commonwealth ICT is procured through panels and standing offer arrangements, so the tenders that matter most are often panel establishments and refreshes rather than individual project tenders. Once on a panel, work comes via limited approaches to market. Digital and ICT panels cover software development, cloud, cyber security, data and labour hire, and missing a panel refresh can lock you out for years.
The primary portal is Tenders ACT. You can also see what is currently open across the state on our ACT tender feed, or narrow it to your trade on the it and ict providers feed. If you would rather not check portals at all, our guide to finding government tenders covers every jurisdiction and how to watch them together.
These are the credentials ACT buyers check before they assess anything else. A gap here is a compliance failure, not a scoring deduction — it removes your bid regardless of price.
Our guides on ABNs and licences for tenders and tender insurance requirements go through each of these in detail, including how long they take to obtain.
The contracts below recur year after year in Australian Capital Territory. Knowing the pattern tells you which capability to evidence in your capability statement.
Cleared personnel are the defining cost factor in Canberra ICT work. Security-cleared staff command a substantial premium and the available pool is small, so rates for NV1 or NV2 engagements are materially higher than commercial equivalents — price the cleared market, not the general market. Sponsoring clearances takes many months, which affects mobilisation commitments. On fixed-price delivery, government scope change processes can be slow, so ensure your variation mechanism is workable rather than theoretical.
For the full method — cost build-up, overhead recovery, contingency and how to sanity-check against published award values — see how to price a tender and the tender response checklist. Before you price anything, run the bid/no-bid scorecard so you are only pricing work worth winning.
Because a large proportion of Commonwealth technology work is bought through panels and standing offers rather than open tender. Once a panel is established, agencies approach panel members directly. If you are not on the relevant panel you never see much of that work, which makes panel establishments and refreshes the highest-priority opportunities to monitor.
Baseline clearance is a common minimum, with NV1 or NV2 required for sensitive systems and national security work. Some Defence and intelligence engagements require Australian citizenship as well. Clearances take months to obtain and must generally be sponsored, so clearance capability is a real barrier to entry and a real competitive advantage.
For hosting or cloud services handling government data, IRAP assessment is commonly expected, alongside compliance with the Protective Security Policy Framework and Essential Eight controls. ISO 27001 certification is frequently requested. These are substantial investments, so confirm which are mandatory for your target work before committing.
At the cleared market rate, which is significantly above commercial equivalents because the pool of cleared professionals is small and demand in Canberra is high. Pricing cleared roles at general market rates is a common error that either wins unprofitable work or fails because you cannot actually staff the engagement.
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