Is your business up and running and looking for business opportunities?

These steps will help you understand where to find tenders and how to sell your products and services to the government and other organisations.

Each year, government agencies and large companies buy a variety of products and services through tenders and contracts.

If you’re looking for business opportunities to start or grow your business, these steps will help you know where to look.

  1. Learn about government opportunities
  2. Understand how to sell to the government
  3. Search for non-government opportunities
  4. Talk to an expert
  5. Network

Quotes and tenders – what's the difference?

Quotes and tenders are written offers to supply a specified good or service.

As a general rule:

  • Request for Quote (RFQ) is used for the purchase of goods and services that are lower in risk and complexity
  • Request for Tender (RFT) is used for the purchase of goods and services that are high complexity and or risk, and/or that can be strategic in nature. RFTs can be either open, meaning released to the public, or closed, meaning released to a restricted number of suppliers.

Where are quotes and tenders advertised?

Look at existing Victorian Government Requests For Tenders on the Buying for Victoria tenders portal.

Departments must use Buying for Victoria to advertise their tenders, and agencies can do so if appropriate.

Other Victorian Government tender websites include:

  • VicRoads – tender and supply opportunities for future works and services
  • Health Purchasing Victoria – works collaboratively with Victoria's health sector to help ease cost pressures on health services through strategic procurement
  • Construction Supplier Register (CSR) – a pre-qualification scheme for building and construction industry consultants and contractors
  • eServices register – open to suppliers who are able provide the goods and services relating to a broad range of IT services and related products

Use these websites to look for local government tenders and contacts: