Deion:
The Contact Centre Services support more than 400 programs including services for some programs that have concluded.

The Department requires a Contact Centre Service provider who can supply the following Services categories from within Australia:

·    Telephone – Monitoring and management of contacts via phone lines associated with various government programs and services (such as, but not limited to, business.gov.au). 

·    Email – Monitoring and management of contacts via email addresses on behalf of the Department and other government agencies. 

·    Chat/messenger Services – Monitoring and management of contacts through chat functionality via various platforms including websites such as business.gov.au. 

·    General Information Services – As part of the monitoring and management of contact channels, the Department requires Customer Service Representatives that can provide information to customers about Government programs. 

·    Business Advisory Services – As part of delivering a high level of service to customers, the successful Tenderer/s will also be required to provide specialist business advisory services. This involves the engagement of Customer Service Representatives dedicated to specific business topics or areas of specialisation to discuss particular customer questions and provide targeted advice on specific topics such as grant application advice, business start-up funding, or advice in the event of natural disasters.

As part of the above Services categories, the successful Tenderer(s) will be required to provide the following Services:

·    Information in response to queries from customers in accordance with agreed service levels; 

·    Initial screening of the needs of the customers who have contacted the Contact Centre; 

·    Accessing information about programs on the government websites such as business.gov.au for those customers without internet access; 

·    Assistance to users of government websites such as business.gov.au including providing forms and guidelines to customers, or providing assistance with the completion of forms; 

·    Providing customers with information packs and other relevant material in response to their queries; 

·    Researching information packs in order to respond to customers queries where appropriate;

·    Referring customer queries to relevant Government agencies across jurisdictions where appropriate; 

·    Assisting customers in completion of online transactions; 

·    Providing customers specialist information provided by the business advisors; 

·    Following up with other Government agencies as required to track how the customer queries have been resolved;

·    Supporting the delivery of Departmental programs by providing a personal and value-adding interface to programs and services throughout the entire program delivery cycle (e.g. announcements, opening and closing of grant programs); and 

·    Reporting on Contact Centre operations and facilitating information exchange by: 

o    Providing regular reports to key stakeholders on Contact Centre activities and assisting in quality assurance of government websites, such as business.gov.au;

o    Providing historical record of Contact Centre activities and trends in relation to all Departmental programs and services; and

o    Providing analysis of customer insights and trends.

The Department’s full requirements are set out in more detail in Attachment 1 – Statement of Requirements.

Other Instructions:
Tenderers are invited to attend an industry briefing, which is expected to be conducted virtually via online videoconferencing:

For Tenderers who are unable to attend the industry briefing, a recorded copy of the briefing and any additional information provided at the briefing will be made available as an addendum to the RFT after the industry briefing has been conducted.

Tenderers should register their intent to attend the industry briefing by notifying the RFT Contact Officer via email, 3 business days prior to the scheduled industry briefing using the RFT Contact Officer email: ausindustrycontactservicestender@industry.gov.au.

Conditions for Participation:
The Tenderer must:

1.      exist as a legal entity at the closing time. While the tenderer may be an overseas entity, the services must be able to be delivered in Australia and accessible in Australia by the customers.

2.      The Tenderer for the Tendering entity, must either:

a.        hold all Valid and Satisfactory Statement of Tax Records that are applicable to the Tenderer by the Closing Time; or

b.        have a receipt demonstrating that all Statement of Tax Records that are applicable to the Tenderer have been requested from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) by the Closing Time, and holds a Valid and Satisfactory Statement of Tax Record no later than four (4) Business Days after the Closing Time; and

3.      The Tenderer for any First Tier Subcontractor, must either:

a.        hold all Valid and Satisfactory Statement of Tax Records for any First Tier Subcontractor that it proposes, as part of its Tender, to engage to deliver goods or services with an estimated value of over $4 million (GST inclusive) by the Closing Time; or

has a receipt demonstrating that all Statement of Tax Records have been requested from the ATO by the Closing Time, for any First Tier Subcontractor that it proposes, as part of its Tender, to engage to deliver goods or services with an estimated value of over $4 million (GST inclusive), and the Tenderer holds a Valid and Satisfactory Statement of Tax Record for the First Tier Subcontractor no later than four (4) Business Days after the Closing Time.

Time for Delivery:
(a)  18 March 2022 - Advertise Request for Tender on AusTender

(b)  30 March 2022-Industry Brief (Online)    2pm (AEDT)

(c)  11 May 2022(3 pm AEST) - Closing Time

(d)  May 2022 – August 2022 - Evaluation of Tenders and any negotiation process

(e)  September 2022 - Execute contract with successful Tenderer(s

(f)  From September 2022 - Tenderers notified

(g)  From September 2022 - Debrief Tenderers (if required)

 

The Department anticipates, but reserves the right to amend, that the contract period resulting from this RFT may be up to a total of 5 years:

(i)  The initial contract period is expected to be two (2) years;

(ii)  The First option period is expected to be two (2) years; and

The Second option period is expected to be ‘up to 12 months’, to be determined by the Department.