Where are Australian construction tenders published?
Federal agencies use AusTender. States and territories use their own portals. Councils may publish on their own sites too.
| Source | What it lists | Link |
|---|---|---|
| AusTender | Approaches to market, annual procurement plans and awarded contracts for Australian Government buyers. Registration is free for notifications. | tenders.gov.au |
| buy.nsw | The NSW Government supplier hub. It lists tenders, schemes, quotes, expressions of interest and direct negotiations. | buy.nsw.gov.au |
| Tenders WA | Advertised tenders, early tender advice, tenders closed and under evaluation, and recently awarded contracts. You can register your business. | tenders.wa.gov.au |
| Other states and territories | business.gov.au names Buying for Victoria, QTenders, Tenders SA, Tasmanian Government Tenders, Quotations and Tenders Online in the NT, and Tenders ACT. | business.gov.au |
business.gov.au still names the old NSW eTendering site. Use buy.nsw, which lists NSW tenders.
How do I register and bid on an Australian tender?
Each portal has its own sign-up. These steps follow the pages we opened and the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.
- 1Register on AusTender for free notifications. Register on each state portal you target too.
- 2Search the current approaches to market.
- 3Read the request documents. They state the conditions for participation, any financial guarantees and the evaluation criteria.
- 4Check if the project needs work health and safety accreditation. Federally funded building work can.
- 5Submit by the deadline. On larger procurements, a late bid is not accepted unless the buyer mishandled it.
Which rules should I check?
The Commonwealth Procurement Rules, edition of 17 November 2025, govern federal buyers. State buyers follow state rules, so read each tender.
- Thresholds. The extra rules start at $125,000 for non-corporate agencies and $400,000 for prescribed corporate entities. For construction services they start at $7.5 million (paragraph 9.7).
- No splitting. A buyer must not split a procurement to avoid a threshold (paragraph 9.5).
- Time to bid. Above the threshold, an open tender must allow at least 25 days. The buyer may shorten it to 10 days in set cases (paragraphs 10.22 and 10.24).
- Limited tender. Above the threshold, it is allowed only in listed cases, such as extreme urgency (paragraph 10.3).
- Experience. A buyer may ask for relevant experience. It must not require past work with the buyer, the Australian Government or one place (paragraph 10.15).
- Bid security. We give no figure. The request documents state any financial guarantee.
- Safety accreditation. The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner runs an accreditation scheme. Builders need it for head contracts on building work the Australian Government funds. Dollar limits apply.
Can a foreign contractor bid in Australia?
Yes. Above the threshold, a buyer must not discriminate against suppliers. This covers size, foreign ownership, location and the origin of goods (paragraph 10.2).
- The extra rules apply only at or above the threshold. The rules also prioritise Australian businesses and small firms for some procurements.
- A buyer judges your abilities on your business activities wherever they happened (paragraph 10.16).
- A single tender can add its own rules for foreign firms. Read the tender.
Read how a foreign contractor can bid and how a joint venture works.
Where is development-bank and UN work listed?
These notices follow the funder, not the country. Our guide to development-bank tenders explains who runs each tender. UNGM lists UN opportunities and has a beneficiary country filter.
Where Bidligence fits
Bidligence's nightly tender search covers Australia. The list below shows the Australian sources that returned notices recently. Bidligence can miss tenders, so keep checking your key buyers. You can also upload an Australian tender, and Bidligence reads what it requires. See tender alerts.
Sources that returned tender notices to Bidligence in the last 30 days. The list updates itself.
- Australia — AusTender (open ATMs)Australia
- Australia — NSW buy.nsw construction tendersAustralia
Questions
- Where are Australian Government tenders published?
- On AusTender. It lists approaches to market, annual procurement plans and awarded contracts. Each state and territory has its own portal.
- What is the construction threshold in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules?
- It is $7.5 million for construction services. The extra rules for open tender apply at or above it. Other procurements start at $125,000 or $400,000.
- How long must an open tender stay open?
- For procurements at or above the threshold, at least 25 days from the day the buyer publishes. The buyer may shorten it to 10 days in set cases.
- Does a federal building project need safety accreditation?
- Builders need accreditation for head contracts on building work the Australian Government funds, above set dollar limits. The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner runs the scheme.
- Can a late bid be accepted?
- Above the threshold, not unless the buyer mishandled it. A courier delay is the bidder's risk (paragraph 10.29).
Sources
Rules and portals change. Check the tender’s own documents and the official source before you rely on any of this.
- AusTender: Current ATM list
- Department of Finance: Commonwealth Procurement Rules, 17 November 2025
- Department of Finance: CPRs, Procurement method (paragraph 9.7 thresholds)
- Department of Finance: CPRs, Additional rules (Division 2)
- business.gov.au: Find tenders and contracts
- buy.nsw: All opportunities
- Tenders WA