Supplier Entry Point - Purchasing, tenders and contracts

Selling to the Bureau - Tenders, Contracts and Other Procurement Information

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Commonwealth Procurement Framework

The Bureau’s procurement is conducted within the Government Procurement Framework incorporating Commonwealth Procurement Rules, Procurement Updates and Guidance material. Copies of the Rules, Guidance material and associated circulars can be obtained from the Department of Finance at http://www.finance.gov.au/procurement/index.html

Complaints Handling

The Procurement Advice Team has prime responsibility for handling all initial complaints regarding Bureau Tender processes.

For more information refer to Complaints Handling (February 2013) (doc).

Advertising of Tenders and Contracts

To ensure openness and accountability in Government purchasing, all agencies subject to the Financial Management Accountability (FMA) Act 1997 must publish open business opportunities, and report contracts and standing offers with a value of $10,000 or more on AusTender. This includes purchase orders, oral or written contracts, leases and corporate credit card transactions.

AusTender is managed on behalf of the Australian Government by the Department of Finance. Suppliers are free to browse the following sites to identify business opportunities and the level of activity in Government purchasing:

Bureau Procurement

Bureau procurement refers to the purchase of goods or services, including consultancies and professional services; construction; maintenance and material supply contracts; facilities contracts and capital equipment, undertaken by the Bureau for its own consumption.

Commonwealth Procurement Rules are issued by the Minister for Finance under the Financial Management and Accountability Regulations. These Rules apply to the procurement of all property and services and outline the fundamental policies and principles that underpin Bureau procurement. They articulate the expectations that exist on officials, or agents conducting procurement on behalf of the Bureau, in the design, conduct and management of all aspects of Bureau procurement.

Rules for all Procurements - http://www.finance.gov.au/procurement/procurement-policy-and-guidance/commonwealth-procurement-rules/cprs-value-for-money.html

Commonwealth Standard Conditions of Contract

The Bureau uses the Commonwealth Purchase Order Terms (CPOTs), available for download from the AusTender web site:
http://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/Purchase OrderTerms v3.pdf.
Except where the Bureau advises otherwise, these Terms and Conditions apply to purchases made by the Bureau and are periodically updated. If you require clarifications to these Terms and Conditions please contact the Bureau's Procurement Advisory Team by e-mail at: procurement@bom.gov.au.

There may be specific Procurement activities where different Terms and Conditions will apply and in those cases the Terms and Conditions will be included in the request for offer documentation or offered to the supplier prior to contract.

Payment Terms

Unless other arrangements are agreed, the Bureau’s standard terms of payment are thirty days from date of acceptance of good and/or services and a correctly rendered invoice. Advance payments are generally not agreed unless there are commensurate savings to the Bureau and they are secured in some way.

The Bureau is required to pay its accounts electronically. New suppliers to the Bureau will be required to provide their bank account details. Suppliers can do this by submitting a Vendor Creation/Amendment Form that can be downloaded here.

[The Vendor Creation/Amendment Form for companies is available as a downloadable acrobat document.]

Goods and Services Tax

The Bureau is subject to A New Tax System just like any other Australian business. The Bureau of Meteorology, including its commercial arm, is registered for GST and has the Australian Business Number (ABN) 92 637 533 532. The GST will be included in the price of, and payable on, taxable supplies that the Bureau provides, and the Bureau will be entitled to input tax credits on its creditable acquisitions. If the value of the supply is $50 or more, the Bureau will need to obtain tax invoices from suppliers registered for GST to allow it to claim the input tax credits.

The Bureau prefers to deal with suppliers with an ABN, but there is no obligation on suppliers with an annual turnover of less than $50,000 ($100,000 for non-profit bodies) to have an ABN (except entities that supply taxi travel who must register regardless of turnover). However, it should be noted that if an ABN is not provided, the Bureau is required by legislation to deduct withholding tax and remit it to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Withholding Tax will not be deducted from invoices from non-registered suppliers in the following circumstances:

  • the supplier is registered for an ABN only, or
  • the supplier has completed and lodged with the Bureau a Statement by a Supplier - Reason for not quoting an Australian Business Number (ABN) to an enterprise

In both cases the supplier cannot charge GST.

If you require further information on The New Tax System, want to obtain the necessary forms, wish to register for GST or just an ABN, please call the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on 13 24 78 or visit the ATO’s website at www.ato.gov.au.

Business Opportunities

The Bureau issues from time to time Business Opportunities in the form of Requests for Tender, Proposals, Expressions of Interest, etc. They are published on AusTender at https://www.tenders.gov.au/.

Contracts Exceeding $100,000 - Senate Order

In accordance with a Senate Order J.4358-9 of 20 June 2012, the Bureau is required to publish contracts of $100,000 or more in value and which have not been fully performed or which have been entered into in the previous twelve months.

The cost of complying with this Senate Order is being absorbed by the Bureau as part of its existing administrative activities.

Unless otherwise stated the Bureau treats contract information as commercial-in-confidence and publication is confined to summary details on AusTender (at http://www.tenders.gov.au) and this site.

The Bureau may make additional information available upon request. In so doing the Bureau will use the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet guidelines on the scope of public interest immunity (in Government Guidelines for Official Witnesses before Parliamentary Committees) to determine whether information regarding contracts will be provided. The Bureau will not disclose information if disclosure would be contrary to the Privacy Act 1988, or to other statutory secrecy provisions, or if it has given an undertaking to another party that the information will not be disclosed.

Eligible Procurement contracts relating to Senate Order (Murray Motion) for 2016-2017 Financial Year will be available on the AusTender website.

Contact Points

For more information about Procurement at the Bureau of Meteorology, please email procurement@bom.gov.au (last revised in August 2017).