We welcome suppliers who are interested in partnering with the City of Greater Geelong to deliver goods, services, and works that benefit our community.

What We Buy

We work together with suppliers to procure a range of:

• Goods like waste bins, workwear, office supplies and outdoor furniture.
• Services from catering, cleaning, security to technology and innovation.
• Professional Services in areas like advertising, design, surveying and marketing.
• Works including new sports pavilions to playground and all maintenance.

This guide is to help new and existing suppliers to do business with Council.

Procurement Methods

Our Procurement Policy sets out its broad purchasing principles and objectives, and our processes are design to be fair, transparent and aligned with our values of integrity, sustainability and value for money.

We use a range of procurement methods depending on the value and complexity of the goods or services being procured, these include:

• Quotations For procurement under $300,000, we seek written quotations from registered suppliers or utilise an existing contract. The number of quotes required increases with the value of the procurement.
• Public Tenders For procurements over $300,000 (excl. GST), we conduct a public tender process. All tenders are advertised publicly on Council's tender portal and evaluated against pre-established criteria.
• Expression of Interest For complex or high-interest procurements, we may first invite EOIs to understand market capability and interest. This may be followed by a selective quotation or public tender process.

How We Engage Suppliers

Request for Quotes

For all contract under $300,000 (Ex GST), if an existing contract does not existing, a written quote will be required. Council will request quotes from suppliers on our Supplier Register only.
For contract over $300,000 a public request for tender will be issued via Council’s online tender portal – eProcure.

Public Tender

eProcure is a free service where potential suppliers can register to receive emails on relevant new tenders and view results on previously awarded tenders. eProcure also allows suppliers to submit questions on-line and download or upload documentation, and provide an electronic response by completing the tender questionnaire template online.

Supplier Register

We maintain a register of Registered Suppliers. This register is a record of all suppliers who have undertaken works, service or supply to Council.

For all new quotations, council will send request for quotes to suppliers on this register only.

New suppliers are invited to the register at the request of relevant council officers usually because of an invitation to Request for Quote. 

Suppliers who have been successful in a public tender will also be added to the Supplier Register.

How to Win Work

To be successful in winning work with us, each submission will be assessed against clearly defined criteria tailored to the individual contracts.  The evaluation criteria will be listed in the procurement documentation and are usually based around:

• Price and Value for money
• Capability and experience
• Methodology and Proposed Program
• Safety and Compliance - meeting council's OHS, quality management, environmental management and other safety policy; as well as compliance with contract terms and specifications.
• Alignment with our Social and Environmental Goals - We prioritise suppliers who contribute to local employment, support Indigenous businesses, and deliver sustainable outcomes.

Depending on the type and value of the contract, 1- 4 evaluation members will evaluate and score submissions against the outlined evaluation criteria.

Internal Panel Contracts

Internal panel contracts are pre-approved agreements between Council and selected suppliers. Established through competitive public tender process.  
These contracts allow the City of efficiently procure commonly used good, services or works.  Panel contracts are usually reviewed each year and are renewed every 2-4 years. 
These panels often include several suppliers who offer the same service.  This ensures flexibility in choosing the more suitable provider for each task and encourage fair distribution of work across qualified suppliers. 

Other Panels

Council may also access existing external panels such as Municipal Association of Victoria, Procurement Australia, Victorian State Register and purchase contract. 

Arrangement types

Purchase orders

When you are successful with your quotation and you have been added to our payment system, you will receive a purchase order with a reference number. This purchase order and number is essential to ensure prompt payment.

Purchase orders will be forwarded to you electronically. 

Once you have the purchase order you can supply goods, works or services to Council.

Our purchase order includes supplier name, ABN details, contact details, details of goods, works or services to be provided and the price which is GST exclusive. GST will be added when the account is paid.

We have established a suite of specific purchase order conditions which are to be used if nominated during the quotation phase. These include purchase order contracts for:

• works
• consultancy
• information technology hardware

From time to time, custom Conditions of Contract may be used.  These draft contracts will accompany the Request for Quote. In these cases, the conditions of contract will override the conditions of the purchase order.  A contract may need to be executed before a Purchase Order can be raised.

Suppliers are encouraged to ensure they understand these terms and conditions and assess any impact to their business.

Contracts and Letters of Intent

When you have submitted a successful tender you will receive a Letter of Intent  detailing requirements prior to starting works or the supply of goods and services. This may include copies of current insurances, safety plans, environmental plans, traffic management plans, relevant licences and accreditations along with any security deposits.
The Contract will be forwarded to the successful supplier/contractor for electronic signature, after which an electronic version will be sent back to the supplier once the City has countersigned the Agreement. The provision of works, goods or services cannot start until contract has been fully executed

Invoicing and payments

Our standard payment terms are 30 days after the dated invoice month (nett).

Please ensure that the purchase order or relevant contract number is quoted on the invoice. Use this number as a reference in any payment enquiries.  Not providing the purchase order number on your invoice may mean delay to payments made to you after the delivery of the goods, services or works.

Our preferred method of payment is electronic funds transfer. For prompt payment, please ensure that all your details including ownership changes, trading names, insurances and bank details are up to date.

Common questions

Arrangement types

Purchase orders

When you are successful with your quotation and you have been added to our payment system, you will receive a purchase order with a reference number. This purchase order and number is essential to ensure prompt payment.

Purchase orders will be forwarded to you electronically.