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Briefing
Urgent/High Complexity
To
Assistant Minister Hartsuyker
To
Minister Abetz
- For Information
Subject Tender Outcomes: Employment Services 2015-2020
(Please action before
30 March 2015)
Recommendation(s) – that you
1. Note the outcomes of the Employment Services 2015-2020 Request for
Noted
Tender.
Signature: ………………………………
…./…./2015
Comments:
Key points
1. The Employment Services 2015-2020 Request for Tender (RFT) was released on 7 October 2014 and
closed on 17 November 2014. 183 Tender responses were evaluated across Employment Provider
services, Work for the Dole Coordinator services, the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS),
Harvest Labour Services and the National Harvest Labour Information Service.
2. While Tender responses were received for all services across all 51 Employment Regions, there were 11
Employment Regions where inadequate responses were received in relation to NEIS. That is, the
responses were assessed as sufficiently low quality as to not demonstrate value for money for the
Commonwealth. The RFT (Section 7.12.11) enables the department to undertake ‘Gap Filling’ for
NEIS in these Employment Regions, which will be conducted shortly after the announcement of results.
3. The department will enter into five year Deeds with most successful Tenderers:
from 1 May 2015 to 26 June 2020 for Work for the Dole Coordinators
from 1 July 2015 to 26 June 2020 for all other employment services providers, with a small
number of exceptions as noted below (paragraph 15), where the department will offer a shorter
term to assist mitigate risk to the Commonwealth.
4. The law firm
as engaged as the external probity adviser and has provided a probity report.
This report endorses that, to the extent it was involved in the purchasing process, the process has been
conducted in accordance with the RFT, Plans and Guidelines and has complied with applicable
Commonwealth purchasing policies and laws.
5. An overview of the Tender process is at
Attachment A & A1. A summary of the innovations that
successful tenderers have committed to incorporating in their service offering is at
Attachment B.
6. An overview (
Attachment C) and details (
Attachment D) of offers of business in each of the
Employment Regions or Harvest Areas are attached.
7. Of the organisations that submitted Tenders, ten identified as being Indigenous organisations. None of
these were recommended for business in their own right. However, two Indigenous organisations are
nominated subcontractors by approved Tenderers.
8. The Delegates for the purchasing process, Martin Hehir, Deputy Secretary, Employment and Sandra
Parker, Deputy Secretary, Workplace Relations and Economic Strategy (only the Delegate for
Employment Provider and Work for the Dole in the Capital Employment Region) agreed on 23 March
2015 to the following:
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66 organisations (from the 183 that were evaluated) were successful in gaining employment
services business.
Two organisations are either new to, or do not have significant organisational members
delivering employment services:
44 organisations will be offered Deeds to provide Employment Provider services
19 organisations will be offered Deeds to provide Work for the Dole Coordinator services
21 organisations will be offered Deeds to provide NEIS services
Five organisations will be offered Deeds to provide Harvest Labour Services
One Organisation will be offered a Deed to provide the National Harvest Labour Information
Services.
9. Approximately 61 per cent of organisations are not-for-profit and 39 per cent of Employment Providers
are for-profit (currently 65/35 for Job Services Australia (JSA)). Approximately 52 per cent of Job
Seekers will be serviced by not-for-profit providers, and 48 per cent will be serviced by for-profit
providers.
10. Section 7.2.3 of the RFT states that “The department anticipates there will be up to six Employment
Providers in each Employment Region unless there are exceptional circumstances”. TRC is
recommending business be awarded to seven Tenderers in the two Employment Regions that have the
largest number of Job Seekers.
11. More generally, the larger size of Employment Regions and a reduction in the number of Tenderers
recommended for business in each Employment Region than currently operate in underlying ESAs, has
often resulted in larger caseloads for Providers in each Employment Region.
12. Regional coverage is strong and site numbers are similar to current. However, the majority of successful
Tenderers (that are current Providers) have an increased national business share, with successful smaller
current Providers growing on a greater scale. For example
current caseload of around
3000 Job Seekers) will have a caseload of approximately 20,000, representing a growth of close to 500
per cent. Similarly,
has increased from a caseload of around 3000 to
11,000;
from 2000 to 16,500; and
from 1700 to 8500.
13. Many current JSA Providers will not be offered any Employment Provider business. While most of
these currently have relatively small caseloads (less than 2000 nationally), there are several large
Providers that will exit completely, including:
current caseload is around 33,000 job seekers);
(current caseload is around 21,000 job seekers).
14. Another three JSA Providers will see a significant reduction in their business:
(current caseload is around 31,000 job seekers reducing to approximately
3,000);
– currently known as
(current caseload is around 18,000 and will
reduce to around 13,000 job seekers)
current caseload is around 6,000 and will reduce to around 2,500 job seekers)
(current caseload is around 25,000 and will reduce to around 4,000 job seekers)
15. Four organisations will receive offers of Deeds of a shorter duration than five years to mitigate risk to
the Commonwealth.
it is considered that a shorter Deed duration (with an option for
the department to extend if the outcome of this analysis is satisfactory) is necessary as follows:
12 month Deed for
18 month Deeds for:
o
o
o
16. Details of current and future organisations are in
Attachment E.
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Next Steps
17. Tenderers will be informed as soon as possible that they will be advised of the outcome of the Tender
process on 31 March 2015.
18. It is intended that, on 31 March 2015, the department will advise Tenderers of the outcome of the
Request for Tender process.
19. Successful Tenderers will have ten calendar days in which to submit their Service Delivery Plan and
fourteen calendar days in which to execute and return the Deed which will accompany the advice that
their Tender submission(s) were successful.
20. The contracting phase will commence once Deeds are issued to successful Tenderers on the day of
announcement. The contracting phase is expected to conclude by mid-April 2015 allowing Work for the
Dole Coordinators to commence in May 2015 and all other employment services providers to
commence on 1 July 2015.
21. Details of successful Tenderers will be published on the department’s website and through AusTender.
As noted in the RFT (Section 6.2.5, all Tenderers may seek an oral debriefing).
22. The transition of job seekers will be managed according to the following principles:
transition activities must support the continuity of employment services;
all eligible job seekers will either:
o
remain connected with their current employment services organisation (if it is continuing) if
possible; or
o
be referred to a new Employment Provider, taking into account their circumstances.
connections between employers and job seekers (for example, wage subsidies) will continue to
be supported during the transition where possible.
Implications
23.
shortly after the tender announcement, specific providers will get tailored contact from senior
staff to assist manage the relationship;
Account Managers will also contact current providers after the announcement to offer support
and arrange future meetings. Account Managers will have ongoing engagement with these
organisations throughout the transition period;
all tenderers will be informed that they will have the opportunity for a debrief;
the department will offer to introduce, on a without prejudice basis, current providers which are
not continuing to successful tenderers to explore options to form a relationship or transfer of
staff or premises;
tenderers will have access to updated Business Adjustment Modules on the internet to assist
them to identify other opportunities, particularly if they are not continuing or reducing their
mainstream employment services activities; and
the Employment Services Industry Jobs Board on Australian JobSearch will connect Job
Services Australia employees with providers looking for staff.
24.
Consultation
25. State Offices, Tender Review Committee recommendations to the Delegates, Martin Hehir and Sandra
Parker.
Attachments
Attachment A & A.1
Overview of the Tender Process
Attachment B
Examples of innovation that have been put forward by successful tenderers
Attachment C
Overview of Tender Results
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Attachment D
Details of Tender Results
Attachment E
Details for each Employment Region
Primary Contact Officer: Michael Quinn
Position: Branch Manager
Branch: Business Partnerships Branch
Ph:
Clearance Officer: Anthony Parsons
Position: Group Manager
Group: Employment Services Support Group
Ph
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