A veteran legal adviser on Government tender processes for asset sales,
human services, privatisation and IT contracting, Blake Dawson Waldron
Sydney’s Elizabeth Johnstone has seen the best and the worst of RFP,
RFT and RFQ responses.
The following interview was conducted by Jordan Kelly – Bid Strategist,
Writer & Coach.
Government tendering processes
have come a long way in the
past decade.
With Competitive Tendering and
Contracting (CTC) specialists and
procurement training programs now
part of many large Government
agencies, “both the process and the
evaluation methodologies are
becoming very sophisticated”,
according to BDW partner
Elizabeth Johnstone.
Respondent organisations that don’t
appreciate this increasing level of
sophistication are at a distinct
disadvantage, she points out.
Johnstone says the primary level
of understanding an RFT respondent
must demonstrate to the new breed
of tender evaluation professionals,
can be summed up in two words:
Context and Criteria.
Context
“A good tender reveals that the
tenderer understands the context in
which the Government department is
operating and is making the purchase.
“Context”, she says, encompasses
every aspect of the purchaser’s
operating environment.
“It includes the political, social,
economic and legal backdrop . . .
the whole policy framework that sits
behind the tender process.
“You can distinguish the companies
whose people have taken the time to
understand the context, from those
that have just said ‘Look at me’.
“It’s considered basic homework
nowadays to do this research before
you even put pen to paper.”
The first and most basic step,
Johnstone says, is to read the policy
documents underpinning the RFT.
“It’s not good enough to just work
with the RFT itself. The really good
tendering organisations seek out
and read white papers, draft Bills,
Parliamentary reports, consultative
documents, relevant Ministerial
speeches, and any Productivity
Commission or Australian National
Audit Office reports that might relate
to the issue.
Elizabeth Johnstone
Partner, Blake Dawson Waldron
“They learn and understand the history
that lies behind the project.”
If a specific Government agency
or Department has been the subject
of a report and is now releasing an
RFT either with that report as a
backdrop, or to find a solution to that
problem, it’s an obvious first step to
read such a document.
