Where can I find information on tenders?

A complete 2026 guide to finding government, council, ICT and private tenders across Australia and New Zealand. Free portals, paid aggregators, and how to choose.

What is a tender, in plain language?

A tender is a formal invitation from a Buyer, usually a government agency, council, university, or large private organisation, asking Suppliers to submit a priced proposal for goods, services, or works. Tenders are the standard way the public sector, and many private buyers, award contracts transparently and competitively.

In Australia, the Commonwealth, six states, two territories, hundreds of local councils, and thousands of private organisations all publish tenders. They don't, however, publish them in one place. That fragmentation is why “where can I find information on tenders?” is one of the most common questions new bidders ask.

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Where to find Australian tenders at a glance

This is the short version. Each source is covered in detail below.

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Federal government tenders: AusTender

AusTender is the Commonwealth’s central tender publishing platform. Under the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, Australian Government entities are required to publish business opportunities, contract award notices, and standing offers valued at A$10,000 or more on AusTender.

What you can do on AusTender for free

• Search current and closed Commonwealth opportunities by category, agency, region or keyword

• Download tender documents after registering with your ABN

• View awarded contract notices, including contract value, supplier and contract period

• Subscribe to email notifications for chosen UNSPSC categories

SME note

Around a third of Commonwealth contracts by number are awarded to small and medium-sized businesses, according to the Department of Finance’s Commonwealth Procurement annual reporting. Federal contracts are not just for the big incumbents.

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State and territory government tenders

Each state and territory runs its own e-procurement portal. The names differ but the model is similar: free registration, free document downloads, and email alerts. Below is a current map of the eight portals.

Each portal lists opportunities for that jurisdiction’s departments, statutory authorities, and (in most cases) state-owned corporations. Some councils publish through the relevant state portal; most run their own.

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Local council tenders

Australia has 537 local government councils, according to the Australian Local Government Association. Most publish tenders on their own e-procurement portals or via shared platforms. 

If you only deal with one or two councils, monitoring each portal directly is reasonable. If you bid across regions, a centralised feed will save the time-burn of logging into 20-plus separate sites every week. 

For a simpler approach, you can check Australian Tenders to view council tenders in one place, rather than tracking multiple portals individually.

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New Zealand tenders: GETS

For Aotearoa, the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) is the central platform for New Zealand public sector opportunities. Like AusTender, it’s free to register and download documents. Australian Tenders also captures NZ opportunities for trans-Tasman bidders.

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Private and commercial tenders

Not every tender is government-issued. Mining, construction, utilities, large corporates, universities and not-for-profits regularly run their own tender processes. These don’t appear on government portals.

They’re typically advertised through:

• Industry newsletters and trade press

• Local newspapers, especially in regional Australia

• Direct invitation to suppliers on internal panels

• Private Buyer portals

• Aggregators that capture private tenders alongside public ones

If you mostly sell to private companies (cleaning clients, construction head contractors, corporates buying professional services), most of your tender opportunities sit on private portals that government sites don’t list.

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Where to find digital, ICT and technology tenders

If you sell digital or ICT services, three places matter most:

• BuyICT: the Commonwealth’s digital and ICT marketplace, the central source for federal tech and digital opportunities
  
  

• State ICT panel arrangements: e.g. NSW ICT Services Scheme, eServices Panel and equivalent panels in other states
  
  

• AusTender: individual ICT contracts above the A$10,000 threshold

For a full list of digital, ICT and technology tenders across Australia and New Zealand, check out the Information & Communication Technology category on Australian Tenders.

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Where to find cleaning tenders

Cleaning is one of the highest-volume tender categories in Australia, covering commercial cleaning, school and university contracts, hospital and healthcare facilities, and council buildings. If you bid for cleaning work, three places matter most:

• AusTender: Commonwealth cleaning contracts above the A$10,000 threshold, including Defence sites, federal office buildings and Services Australia premises
  
  
• State and territory portals: recurring panels for government offices, public schools, hospitals and TAFEs (e.g. NSW eTendering, Buying for Victoria, QTenders)
  
  
• Local council portals and shared platforms: the highest-frequency source with tenders for libraries, community centres, parks amenities and council offices, plus private commercial cleaning tenders advertised in trade press and regional newspapers.
  
  

For a full list of cleaning tenders across Australia and New Zealand, government, council and private combined, check out the Cleaning Services & Equipment & Supplies category on Australian Tenders.

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Direct portal or aggregator: which should you use?

Most bidders end up using both. Use this as a quick decision guide.

A subscription aggregator such as Australian Tenders captures every government and council portal in Australia and New Zealand, plus private tenders sourced from hundreds of local newspapers and private organisations. The payoff is search-once, find-everywhere instead of logging into 30-plus separate portals each week.

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How to choose tenders that are actually worth bidding on

Finding tenders is the easy part. Choosing the right ones is what separates bidders who win from bidders who burn out.

• Define your sweet spot. Industry codes (UNSPSC), geography, contract value range, and panel type.
  
  

• Set saved searches on every portal you use, including any aggregator, so new matches reach your inbox the day they’re published.
  
  

• Watch forward procurement plans. Many agencies publish 12-month forward plans that give you weeks or months of lead time to prepare a stronger response.
  
  

• Track awarded contracts. If a tender was just awarded for the work you do, that contract will come up again, and you’ll already know who the incumbent is.

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Finding tenders on Australian Tenders

Australian Tenders maintains four searchable views of the market (current, closed, awarded and future tenders), each filterable by keyword, category and region.

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Frequently asked questions

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Find tenders worth your time

Searching for tenders shouldn’t eat your week. Australian Tenders captures every Commonwealth, state, council, private and New Zealand opportunity in one search, with saved alerts, awarded-contract history, and a five-year archive of closed tenders for competitor research.

Last updated: May 2026