By Paul Hemsley

Tasmanian Finance Minister has made a renewed push to help local businesses win public sector contracts after the state’s Department of Finance launched simplified contractual templates for both buyers and sellers into the government market.

The new tender documents replace unpopular paperwork that businesses had complained was too onerous, confusing and time-consuming in terms of working out what they needed to provide to be considered as a supplier.

The replacement tender templates require agencies to fill a Request for Quotation in three low-risk, low cost and low value areas. These are supplying consultantany services, general services and the supply of goods.

The simplifications are intended to let local businesses to determine quickly whether they fit the bill for an agency’s given procurement process.

They are part of a wider attempt to increase the number of local businesses winning government contracts by encouraging agencies to buy locally as the Tasmanian economy undergoes significant structural changes.

Although businesses within the state already have a 90 per cent success rate in winning government contracts over the last financial year, local of businesses say there is still a need for clearer information on the requirements, processes and guidelines for tendering.