If you’re growing your business or diversifying your revenue streams through private or government tenders this year, you may be finding getting started a bit overwhelming.
One thing we’re asked frequently at Tender Evaluation is “What’s the best site to find tenders?”, if that’s you, keep reading, because you’re in the right place!
But if you’re still wondering whether applying for tenders is worth your company’s time and effort, let’s take a quick look at some recent statistics that may help sway your decision.
Australian tenders statistics
In the financial year 2023-24, there were 83,453 contracts and contract amendments published on AusTender, the Commonwealth Government’s procurement information system. These tenders amounted to a combined value of $96.6 billion worth of business opportunities. This is the highest ever value reported on AusTender, primarily due to a significant increase in high value contracts (7) published by the Department of Defence between 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.
What is notable is that almost 41% of that value consisted of contracts were between $80k to $1million, so there is plenty of opportunity for small business to win tenders!
And this is only federal government contracts! Open this up to private industry suppliers and organisations, as well as State and Local Government, and you can see there is a significant amount of tender opportunities available to companies around Australia.
Perhaps better news than the sheer volume of work available though is the vast percentage of those government tenders are awarded to businesses with an Australian address.
Which industries benefit most from tenders?
Military fixed wing aircraft was the top industry for tenders in Australia, making up 9.24% of contracts. This is followed by the building construction industry at 6.56% and war vehicles at 5.32%, while the category of computer services, came in at 4.43%.
Other industries to benefit strongly from tenders include the lease and rental of property or building, the defence force, real estate services, management support services, information technology, broadcasting or telecommunications, personnel services and professional engineering services.
Are there tender opportunities for SMEs?
Absolutely!
Don’t think that your small business isn’t capable of applying for and winning government contracts, just because you’re not one of the “big shots”.
In 2022, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules were updated, increasing the value of all procurement contracts to be sourced from small and medium enterprises to 20%, up from the previous 10%, and that government entities must make all payments to suppliers within the stated payment terms.
Start your Australian tender search here
Now you know the why behind looking out for great business opportunities through tendering, let’s get started on how to find the best open tenders for your companies
Listed below, we’ve gathered together all the tender websites and resources you’ll need to start unearthing relevant opportunities. Whether your company works in infrastructure, health, finance or maintenance services, you’ll be able to start sourcing some great projects.
Australian Tenders
NSW Tenders
ACT Tenders
QLD Tenders
VIC Tenders
TAS Tenders
SA Tenders
NT Tenders
WA Tenders
Best global tender websites
Is there a site we’ve missed or should add? Let us know so we can keep these lists up to date for more to find!
Next steps in your tender search
Once you’ve taken in the tables above, you’ll understand that, in broad terms, you have two options to get things underway:
Searching tender websites yourself
If you’re doing the searching on individual websites yourself, the biggest challenge is that often the search functions aren’t particularly accurate.
However, the more you use these sites to search for opportunities, the more you’ll understand how to refine your searches to zero in on more relevant results.
Matt’s Pro Tip:
If the sites or services that you choose have any kind of “tender alerts” or “daily notifications” service, it’ll save you a whole lot of time!
Having someone search tender websites for you
If you’re paying someone else to do the leg work, you’ll need to give them feedback on the relevance of the tender information that they send you so that they can refine how they search tenders for you.
Once you have your search functions set up properly, you should be able to spend more responding to the right tender for the win!
Bonus tips to get started finding tenders.
Searching for tenders can be time-consuming, especially when you are just starting out, but while you search for those lucrative opportunities, here are a few bonus tips for you to consider when getting started in the world of tendering (and winning them!)
- Get your management team together and decide on the size and type of business you want to tender for ahead of time. This will help narrow down the field and save you from getting overwhelmed and distracted.
- Choose the websites that will provide the tenders that match the criteria that your company has the capabilities to fulfil (because that will be one of the criteria you have to meet!)
- Start small. If this is your first time submitting tender bids, you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. You’ll gain your confidence to continue pursuing tendering opportunities if you are successful in your bids for “lower tier” contracts, than if you get rejected for more lucrative “high ticket” ones as a fresh face!
- Once you’ve found your tender opportunities, start setting up your tender support team. Remember, you don’t need to do it all yourself!
- And when you’re ready to take your tendering activities to the next level, make sure to check out our in-depth guide on tender bid management
Need to know more? Talk to a tender proposal expert!
Whether you need help sourcing and finding tenders, identifying the right tender opportunities for your business, a winning bid proposal or a tender presentation that will make your organisation stand out from the competition, the Tender Evaluation consulting team provides you with the professional guidance you need to win more tenders.