If your agency has identified that there is a community need they wish to fill, there is a certain process you need to follow to ensure that stakeholders (including potential service providers or service users) are adequately involved in the process.
This guide aims to:
- explain the different methods for buying community services and the steps you need to take
- explain government procurement policies (including the Delivering Community Services in Partnership Policy) and how they affect buyers
- highlight the requirements for each stage of the process
This guide includes information about:
- what you need to know before getting started with buying community services
- the competitive procurement process for community services
- when you can use a preferred service provider for community services
- managing the service agreement
The information is divided into the following sections:
- getting started with community services procurement: questions that you need to consider when starting a community services procurement process
- competitive procurement process: step by step guide to conduct a competitive process for community services
- preferred service provider process: process for engaging a preferred service provider
- managing the service agreement: how to effectively manage service agreements
If you know what you are looking for, you can click straight through to the section you need. If you are new to community services procurement, you can click through all the pages chronologically to get an overview of the process. Throughout the guide, we provide links to relevant templates and guidelines you may need to conduct your procurement.
The information provided here is intended to help you navigate the procurement process, however, you should always consult your agency’s internal procurement guidelines and policies.
Community services procurement resources and templates are available for further guidance.
Finance provides information on agency procurement and contracts via the Government Procurement Business Intelligence (BI) Reports. The BI reports enable agencies to analyse procurement related information across all public authorities.