Business Entry Point - Purchasing, tenders and contracts

Selling to the Bureau - Tenders, Contracts Arranged 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 Guidelines, Procurement Updates and Guidance material. Copies of the guidelines and associated circulars can be obtained from the Department of Finance and Deregulation at http://www.finance.gov.au/procurement/index.html

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 and Deregulation. Suppliers are free to browse the following sites to identify business opportunities and the level of activity in Government purchasing:

Bureau Procurement

Bureau Standard Conditions of Contract

The Bureaus Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract for the Purchase of Goods and Services are available for download here. These conditions apply to the majority of purchases made by the Bureau. These Terms and Conditions are current at the time of publishing (July 2011). If you have any clarifications to these Terms and Conditions. Please contact the Bureau's Contracts Team by e-mail to contracts@bom.gov.au

There maybe 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.

Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract for the Purchase of Goods and Services (July 2011) (pdf)

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. Any new suppliers to the Bureau will be required to provide their bank account details. Suppliers can do this by submitting an Electronic Funds Transfer Authority that can be downloaded here.

[THE ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER AUTHORITY FOR COMPANIES IS AVAILABLE AS A DOWNLOADABLE ACROBAT DOCUMENT.]

Goods and Services Tax

The Bureau of Meteorology 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/federal/index.shtml. If no Business Opportunities are open and you believe you have goods or services that may be of interest to the Bureau please send a message to the Finance and Supply Section at mailto:contracts@bom.gov.au with details of your business and its capabilities.

Multi-Use Lists

Multi-use lists are lists of all suppliers who have satisfied certain preconditions to supply particular goods or services. Multi-use lists can be established by a single agency or by multiple agencies. They are typically established for property or services that agencies procure on a regular basis.

Request to be included on a Multi-use List -
This process creates a list of pre-qualified suppliers for specified property or services:

  • one or more conditions for participation are set by the agency,
  • interested suppliers can request inclusion,
  • suppliers who meet the conditions for participation will be added to the list,
  • agencies can then invite suppliers on the list to participate in competitive tender,
  • processes for the specified property or services.

Multi-use lists provide only a starting point as agencies must still undertake an open or select tender process to make a purchase. However, it is a useful tool available to agencies to streamline future tender processes. Agencies can decide that being listed on a multi-use list is a condition for participation for an open tender process. Agencies are permitted to undertake select tenders where they select participating suppliers from a multi-use list.

While being on a multi-use list is no guarantee of work, it does mean that agencies have recognised your capacity to provide particular goods or services. As multi-use lists can be used to conduct select tender processes, inclusion on a list could mean the difference between being invited to compete for a particular opportunity or not.

Current Opportunities

The Bureau of Meteorology currently has the following opportunities to apply for inclusion on a Multi-Use List:

MUL 189-2011 :

This is a Multi-Use List (MUL) for the provision of goods and services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for Project Management Training Services.

The Bureau requires portfolio, programme and project management training services to establish and maintain employees' knowledge and skills of portfolio, programme and project management processes and to apply these processes within the Bureau's portfolio of projects. The Bureau requires training services that cover: portfolio management; programme management; project management; specific techniques used to support the above.

Interested applicants are invited to download the attached files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).


MUL 167-2011 :

This is a Multi-Use List (MUL) for the provision of goods and services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for Printing Services.

The Bureau requires a range of printing goods and services to write and publish meteorological information for the Australian general public, and to write and publish information for Bureau staff.

Interested applicants are invited to download the attached files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).


MUL 148-2011 :

This is a Multi-Use List (MUL) for the provision of goods and services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for a crewed shipping (via charter) service.

The Bureau requires this crewed shipping (via charter) service to facilitate the periodic recovery, servicing and deployment of the Australian Tsunami Warning System which comprises of deep ocean tsunameter buoys located in local international and domestic waters

Interested applicants are invited to download the attached files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).


MUL 114-2011 :

This is a Multi-Use List (MUL) for the provision of Commonwealth Financial Framework Training Services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

The Bureau requires a range of financial training services to establish and maintain employees' knowledge of Commonwealth financial and procurement processes and to apply these processes within a Commonwealth financial framework.

The training services required cover topics including: Commonwealth and Procurement Policy Frameworks; Commonwealth procurement rules and processes; appropriations; asset management; accounting; formal training; and any other finance related topics the Bureau may require training for.

Interested applicants are invited to download the attached files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).


MUL 113-2011 :

This is a Multi-Use List (MUL) for the provision of goods and services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for freight.

The Bureau requires a broad range of freight services nationally and internationally.

The categories of assets that require freight services include: sensitive equipment, hazardous goods and unorthodox shaped items.

Interested applicants are invited to download the attached files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).


MUL 112-2011 :

Multi-Use List (MUL) for the provision of goods and services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Occupational, Health, Safety and Environment (OHS&E). This MUL process aims to provide the Bureau with a pool of suppliers who have satisfied the conditions for participation for inclusion on the list.

The MUL covers categories including: OHS&E training service providers; Hygienists; Ergonomists; Asbestos Removalists; Environment specialists; Other specialists; and OHS&E system software and potentially more.

Interested applicants are invited to download the attached OHS&E files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).


MUL 017-2008 :

Multi-Use List (MUL) for the Provision of Consultancy and Professional Services to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in the Fields of Hydrology and Water Resources.

This MUL process aims to provide the Bureau with a pool of pre-qualified suppliers who have satisfied the conditions for participation for inclusion on the list. The MUL will embrace a wide range of consultancy and professional services including water resources data and information (including quantity, quality, availability, use and trade) discovery and/or estimation, water resources information compilation, analysis and presentation and also analysis in support of the prediction and forecasting of water resources.

Interested applicants are to download the attached files -

Part A (Word | PDF), Part B (Word | PDF).

Contracts Exceeding $100,000 - Senate Order

In accordance with a Senate Order J.4358-9 of 20 June stdctr1, 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.contracts.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.

LINK TO SENATE ORDER J.4358-9 LIST

Contact Points

If you want to know more about procurement by the Bureau, or if you supply goods or services which you believe may of interest to the Bureau, you can contact Finance and Supply Section or by e-mail to contracts@bom.gov.au (Last revised in November 2011)