Developing your community services Request

You can view the Request document at Community services templates and guides. Each part is divided into sections that need to be completed either by the Government Agency or potential provider. 

As the government agency officer, you are responsible for completing Parts A – G. The respondent completes Part H and submits it as the offer. 

Part A: Services to be purchased

Potential respondents keep Part A, which is made up of background information about the community need and an explanation of what you are seeking and what services the provider will be expected to deliver. 

The Service Requirement outlines the: 

• Community Outcome – The desired change (or benefit) for the broad target group across the community 
• Service Level Outcome – The desired change (or benefit) for service users as a whole 
• Statement of Requirements - A description of the work or project to be carried out to achieve the community outcome, including specifications 
• Quality Standards – Standards that are well established within a particular industry or necessary under Western Australian or Commonwealth legislation 

The statements of requirements include specifications, which define what you are looking to buy and what the Service Provider is being asked to supply. 

You need specifications to define:  

• what your government agency wants to purchase
• what the Service Provider is expected to do/achieve
• contractual obligations for each of the parties

Specifications must: 

• clearly state the intended outcomes (at the relevant level)
• clearly state other requirements (where applicable), and clearly specify any essential requirements
• contain sufficient information to allow service providers to price their offers
• define the criteria for evaluation of offers

Part B: Where can you get more information?

Part B outlines information about briefings and any contact details. 

Briefings may be mandatory or non-mandatory. Further information is provided in Advertising the Request. 

You can also include contact details in this section of the Request so that potential respondents may clarify any issues before the Request closes. 

Part C: How will this procurement process work?

Part C outlines the purpose of the Request and the Terms and Conditions of this Procurement Process. Community services procurement uses the General Provisions for the Purchase of Community Services by Public Authorities, which you can view at Community services templates and guides. 

Part D: How can you lodge an offer?

Potential respondents may only submit offers to a Request in one of the ways listed in Part D. 

You may choose to include Electronic Tender Lodgement (ETL); by post; or by hand. 

Potential respondents should allow enough time for any unexpected delays to submit offers. You cannot evaluate any offers that are not received in full by the closing date and time. 

Part E: How will your offer be assessed?

Part E lists the components of an offer that will be assessed. These include: 

• Value for money 
• Mandatory requirements - are not point scored, you should make an assessment on a yes/no basis. When you make this assessment, the potential service provider must comply with every detail of every requirement. Failure to answer ‘yes’ to all of the pre-qualification requirements will eliminate the potential supplier from further consideration 
• Compliance and Disclosure criteria - are not point scored, you should make an assessment on a yes/no basis. When you make this assessment, the potential service provider may not need to comply with every detail of every requirement; and 
• Qualitative criteria - for compliant potential service providers, you can then evaluate each response to the qualitative criteria.  

Part F: Key service agreement details

Part F gives information to potential service providers and outlines key terms of the Service Agreement from the Request. 

Part F provides information on such items as: 

• Term of the Service Agreement 
• Commencement Date 
• Extension Options 
• Payment Schedule 
• Insurance Requirements 

Part G: Guide to the response form

Part G includes information potential service providers should consider when preparing an Offer, including: 

• ensuring all sections of the Request are completed correctly; 
• ensuring that the organisation's Legal Entity name is used and not its Trading name; 
• addressing the Qualitative Criteria and providing full details of any claims, statements or examples they provide; 
• guidance around assuming that the Government Agency has no knowledge of their organisation, its activities, its experiences or any previous work undertaken; and 
• ensuring service providers offer a sustainable price for the service. 

Part H: Response form

This part is completed by the Respondent and submitted to the agency. 

It includes: 

• Respondent Details 
• Mandatory Requirements  (if applicable) 
• Any Disclosure Requirements 
• Qualitative Criteria 
• Price Schedule 

​Public liability insurance

Public Liability insurance covers a business for losses or damage a third party suffers (or claims to have suffered) as a result of a business’ activities. In plain English, this provides protection against legal and court costs (i.e. legal liability) if someone is injured, or has their property damaged while a service is being provided to them.  Keep in mind that this type of insurance will only cover claims made by external parties and not those made by a business’ own employees (you need employers liability insurance for this). 

Professional indemnity insurance

Professional Indemnity insurance was designed for professionals who provide advice or a service to their customers. It is designed to protect a company against legal costs and claims for damages to third parties which may arise out of an act, omission or breach of professional duty in the course of business. Professional Indemnity insurance seeks to protect a company's assets and reputation, should this occur. 

If you are seeking to purchase a service that will incorporate advice or provides a professional service – for example: advertising agencies, management consultants or consulting engineers – professional indemnity insurance is essential. A Professional Indemnity insurance policy should cover not only the business, but also any principal, employee, director, partner or related entity who is acting within the scope of their duties. 

Workers’ compensation

Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees who get injured in the course of employment, in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee’s right to sue the employer for negligence.

Note: Workers compensation is a legislative requirement if an organisation employs people. 

Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance

The Motor Vehicle (Third Party Insurance) Act 1943  

‘require owners of motor vehicles whilst on a road, to be insured against liability in respect of deaths or bodily injuries directly caused by, or by the driving of, such motor vehicles, whether caused on or off a road, to make certain provisions in relation to such insurance and in relation to the awarding of damages in respect of such bodily injuries, and for other purposes.’ 

CTP insurance insures vehicle owners and drivers who are legally liable for personal injury caused to any other party in the event of a motor vehicle accident and provides unlimited cover. It covers personal injury claims made by other road users such as drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and pillion passengers involved in a motor vehicle accident. 

Note: The CTP policy does not provide cover for damage to vehicles or property or injuries to a driver, where that driver is at fault. 

Offers which meet all mandatory requirements and disclosure requirements are able to be scored against the qualitative criteria. Qualitative criteria are usually weighted. 

Qualitative criteria need to be appropriate, well defined and tailored on a case by case basis. It’s recommended you include two or more qualitative criteria, for example: 

• ability to provide the services
• the service model (methodology) the potential service provider will use to achieve the desired outcome
• the skills, capacity and experience of the organisation
• demonstrated experience in providing similar services
• organisation and planning capability 

We use qualitative criteria to ensure that: 

• potential service providers have the necessary capability/experience and skills
• potential service providers are treated in a fair and equitable manner
• we can make a value for money decision
• there is open and effective competition
• we support government policies 
• respondents agree to comply with the request’s requirements
• we provide a mechanism to debrief unsuccessful respondents 

You should include the selection criteria and weightings in the request document. The qualitative criteria must be consistent with the specification and only assess what is required to provide the service.  

Give extra consideration to whether financial reporting or other financial information is required from the service provider during the service agreement and whether it will provide useful information about the services. Reducing the administrative burden is a key theme of the DCSP Policy so consider reducing financial reporting requirements. 

Pricing options can include a mix of the following: 

• fixed budget 
• per unit of service 
• per program 
• individualised funding 
• outcome based 

Fixed Budget 

Many community services Requests quote a fixed budget for service providers to offer the volume of services they can provide for the fixed budget. 

Per Unit of Service

In simple terms, an output is services delivered to someone else which delivers a desired outcome. Service providers transform resources (inputs) into services (outputs) and the impact of these outputs on individuals, groups and the community are the outcomes of the service. Funding for output-based service provision is focussed on the service provided (output) to the service user. The funding is allocated to produce the output.  

Individualised Funding

Individualised Funding (IF) is a way of paying for Home and Community Support Services which lets the client directly manage the resources they have been allocated for disability supports. The individualised funding model, which is at the heart of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, involves allocating funding directly to an individual so they can choose the supports necessary to meet their disability related support needs. 

Outcomes Based

Under the DCSP Policy, measurement and reporting are to be based on outcomes rather than the traditional output or activity based mechanisms of measurement and reporting. Outcomes based funding requires a service provider to report on and evaluate the achievement of outcomes to government agencies. Reporting focuses on the outcomes achieved rather than the outputs. A good example of this is education. There’s a difference between school attendance, which is an indicator of a program or policy output, and learning, which is a desired outcome. School attendance does not necessarily tell us much about whether we are seeing desired effects from a program or policy.  

When establishing the pricing schedule, you should have an understanding of cost drivers, cost structures and service costing to ensure the sustainability of the organisation and its services. This includes considering performance measurement and the impact of any data collection and reporting on the organisation. 

​Remember: the total service delivery must be sustainable for the service provider.