Where to find the best tenders to bid for

As a tender writer, I'm often asked where to find appropriate tenders for different types of businesses.  It's no surprise that by far the highest volume of tender requests come from Local, State and Federal Government, and the best places to make sure you're alerted to upcoming tenders that could be just right for your business is to sign up to the various Government tenders websites.

Once you create an account, you can set up alerts so you always get notified when a tender is published.  Here are some of the sites you should be subscribing to:

Local Tender Opportunities

Many local councils use VendorPanel to publish their tender opportunities - simply register and you’ll start receiving tender opportunities that may interest you. Some Councils list their tenders on the Tenderlink website (www.tenderlink.com) but you'll need to access it from the council website, otherwise you'll end up on a user pays site. The easiest thing to do is search for "tenderlink" followed by your Council name and you should find the right link straight away.  In the example below I searched tenderlink Parramatta:

Some councils don't use VendorPanel or the tenderlink portal, but if you search for tenders followed by your Council name, you'll hit the right spot.

NSW Tender Opportunities

NSW State Government tenders are published on the NSW eTendering site.

Victoria Tender Opportunities

State Government tender opportunities in Victoria are advertised on the Tenders VIC website.

ACT Tender Opportunities

Tender opportunities in ACT are published on the ACT Government Procurement and Capital Works website.

South Australia Tender Opportunities

State Government tender opportunities in South Australia are advertised on the SA Tenders & Contracts website.

Tasmania Tender Opportunities

State Government tender opportunities in Tasmania are published on the Tasmanian Government Tenders website.

Western Australia Tender Opportunities

The Tenders WA website is used by Western Australian government departments to advertise public requests. WA local councils can usually be found on the WALGA website

Northern Territory Tender Opportunities

In the Northern Territory, State tender opportunities are published on the NT.GOV.AU website.  You may also be eligible for funding to help pay for the cost of preparing your tender response.

Queensland Tender Opportunities

While some local councils use tenderlink to advertise tender opportunities, others use the Local Government tender box - head over to lgtenderbox.com.au to view a list of opportunities and register.  Brisbane City Council uses its own website to publish tenders.  The Queensland Government also uses QTenders to advertise tenders.  

Federal Tender Opportunities

You'll find most federal government tender opportunities on the Australian Government's procurement information system website. Head on over to Austender to register so you get free notification of business opportunities that match your selection criteria.

Get on with it!

What are you waiting for?  There are loads of tender opportunities out their right now and some of them might be just right for you!  When you find your tender, if you're not sure how where to start or how to go about compiling a compelling response, contact me for an obligation free chat today.