PART C- Request to establish a panel (including Application response schedule)
Request to establish a panel in relation to service providers for National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) TEST ITEM DEVELOPMENT FOR the domains of READING AND NUMERACY
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
ABN 54 735 928 084
Applicants should refer to PART A –SPECIFICATIONSAND PART B – PROPOSED CONTRACT which sets out the specifications for the Services.

Contents

1.Introduction

1.1.Invitation to Application

1.2.Key terms

*Note: The contract term will be reviewed annually.

1.3.Form of contract

1.4.Governing law

2.Lodging Applications

2.1.Location of email Application Box and Application Closing Time

2.2.Electronic lodgement

2.3.Late lodgement policy

3.Additional information and variations to the Request documentation

3.1.Request documentation

3.2.Registering interest to Application

3.3.Requests for Additional Information

3.4.Variation of the REQUEST

3.5.Errors &alterations

4.Information management

4.1.ACARA’s confidential information

4.2.Applicant’s confidential information

4.3.Use of Application documents

5.Policy and law

5.1.Ethical dealing

5.2.Conflicts of interest

5.3.Application of law and Commonwealth policy

6.Matters concerning Application response

6.1.Application response requirements

6.2.Applicants to inform themselves

6.3.Disclaimer

6.4.Offers and acceptance of offer

6.5.Complaints

7.General matters

7.1.Prices and units

7.2.Joint or Part Applications

8.Evaluation of Applications

8.1.Evaluation process

8.2.Security, probity and other checks

8.3.Samples

8.4.Minimum Content and Format Requirements

8.5.Conditions for participation

8.6.Clarification, short-listing and negotiations

8.7.Termination of the Request

9.Other Matters

9.1.Public Statements

9.2.Additional Rights of ACARA

9.3.Debriefing

Schedule 1Application Response Forms

Request to establish a panel in relation to service providers for National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) TEST ITEM DEVELOPMENT FOR the domains of READING AND NUMERACY Page 1

REQUEST FOR APPLICATION PART C- Request to establish a panel for Application (including Application response schedule)

  1. Introduction
  2. Invitation to Apply
  3. ACARA is seeking responses to this Request (Request) for the establishment of a Panel of Preferred Providers for NAPLAN test item development for Reading and Numeracy.
  4. A summary of ACARA and the requirement for the Services is set out in Part A - Specifications.
  5. If appointed to the Panel the Applicant agrees to perform the Project specified in each Purchase Order issued by ACARA in accordance with the relevant Project Brief for the Project Fee, on the terms and conditions set out in the Contract and the Purchase Order.
  6. If appointed to the Panel the Applicant agrees and accepts thatACARA makes no representation and gives no warranty that any Purchase Orders will be issued to the Applicant.
  7. ACARA reserves the right to extend the Panel of Preferred Providers, to extend the test domains, or to appoint other Contractors to the Panel of Preferred Providers in its absolute discretion.
  8. Key terms
  9. The following table sets out the details of some key terms used in this Request:

ACARA / the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
Applicant / any entity which submits an Application or, where the context requires, is proposing to submit an Application
Applicant Details / The name of this Request is “Request No. 2011/08NAPLAN Item Development (Reading and Numeracy)”.
Application / means any application received in response to this Request
Applicant Response Forms / the Applicant Response Forms set out in Schedule 1
Closing Time / 5:00pm Sydney time on Friday, 13January 2012
Contact Officer / Peter Matheson / John Skehan
Level 10, 255 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Fax: 1800 982 118
Email: /
Contract / the document set out in Part B Proposed Contract
Deadline for Submission of Applicants’ Questions / 5:00pm Sydney time on Friday, 23December2011
Offer Period / three months from the Closing Time
Preferred Applicant / A member of the panel of preferred providers
Services / all or any part of the services set out in the Specifications
Tender Box / By email:
Private and Confidential
2011/08
National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy Item Development (Reading and Numeracy)
Peter Matheson
, with a carbon copy (cc) to

*Note: The contract term will be reviewed annually.

1.3.Form of contract

1.3.1.ACARA proposes to enter into a contract with the successful Applicantsubstantially in the form of the Contract.

1.4.Governing law

1.4.1.This Request is to be construed in accordance with, and any matter related to it is to be governed by, the law of the New South Wales. The courts of that State have non-exclusive jurisdiction to decide any matter related to this Request.

  1. Lodging Applications
  2. Location of email Application Box and Application Closing Time
  3. Applicationsmust be lodged at the email Application Box on or before the Closing Time.
  4. ACARA may extend the Closing Time and will issue an addendum notifying any decision to extend.
  5. Electronic lodgement
  6. The time displayed on ACARA's email system as the time the Application is received by ACARA is deemed to be the correct time and will be the means by which ACARA will determine whether an Application has been lodged by the Closing Time. Applicants will be issued with a receipt with the date and time that the Application was submitted.
  7. The judgement of ACARA as to the time an Application has been lodged will be final.
  8. In submitting their Applications electronically, Applicants warrant that they have taken reasonable steps to ensure that Application response files are free of viruses, worms or other disabling features which may affect ACARA's computing environment. Applications found to contain viruses, worms or other disabling features will be excluded from the evaluation process.
  9. Applicants should lodge their Application in accordance with the requirements set out in this paragraph 2.2 for file format/s and file sizes. Failure to comply with any or all of these requirements may result in the Application not transmitting successfully. An Application that has not transmitted successfully before the Closing Time will be considered a late Application.
  10. ACARA will accept Applications lodged in a format compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2010.
  11. Application files:
  12. should not exceed 10 megabytes in total;
  13. should not exceed 50 pages in total; and
  14. may be zipped (compressed).
  15. Applications should be completely self-contained. No hyperlinked or other material may be incorporated by reference.
  16. Scanned images of signed and/or initialled pages within the Application are permitted so long as the total Application file size does not exceed the 10 megabyte limit.
  17. In the event that clarification of a lodged Application is required, Applicants may be required to courier or security post the originals of the signature and/or initialled pages to ACARA addressed to the Contact Officer.
  18. Late lodgement policy
  19. Any Application (including anApplication already received by ACARA at a point other than the nominated Application Box) will be deemed to be late if it is not lodged in accordance with paragraph 2.1.
  20. Late Applications will be admitted at the sole discretion of ACARA.
  21. Additional information and variations to the Request documentation
  22. Request documentation
  23. The Request documentation consists of:
  24. Part A – Specifications
  25. Part B – Proposed Contract
  26. Part C – Conditions of Request
  27. Applicants should obtain Parts A, B and C of the Request documentation from ACARA's website (
  28. Registering interest to Apply
  29. Applicantsmust email the Contact Officer to register their interest to submit anApplication in order to be able to directly receive any addenda to the Request documentation.
  30. Applicants should also regularly check the ACARA website specified in paragraph 3.1.2 for any addenda or answers to Applicants’ questions.
  31. Requests for Additional Information
  32. Requests for further information in relation to this Request must be emailed to the Contact Officer by the Deadline for Submission of Applicants’ Questions.
  33. Subject to paragraph 6.5, the only point of contact for all matters relating to this Request and the Request process is the Contact Officer.
  34. ACARA will determine what, if any, response should be given to an Applicant question. ACARA may circulate Applicant questions and ACARA’s response to those questions to all other Applicantswithout disclosing the source of the questions or revealing any confidential information of anApplicant. Applicants should identify in their question what, if any, information in the question the Applicants consider is confidential. Inappropriate identification of information as confidential will be considered by ACARA when determining what, if any, response will be given.
  35. If a Applicant believes it has found a discrepancy, error, ambiguity, inconsistency or omission in this Request or any other information given or made available by ACARA, the Applicant should promptly notify the Contact Officer setting out the error in sufficient detail so that ACARA may take the corrective action, if any, it considers appropriate.
  36. Variation of the Request
  37. ACARA may amend this Request or the Request process at any time. If ACARA does so prior to the Closing Time, ACARA will issue a formal addendum to the Request on the ACARA website specified in paragraph 3.1.2.
  38. Errors & alterations
  39. Applicants should ensure that any errors or alterations made to an Application are clearly identified and, where appropriate, initialled. Any alteration or erasure made to anApplication that is not clearly identified may result in the Application being excluded from consideration.
  40. Applications in whichprices are not clearly and legibly stated may be excluded from consideration.
  41. If ACARA considers that there are unintentional errors of form in anApplication, ACARA may request the Applicant to correct or clarify the error, but will not permit any material alteration or addition to the Application.
  42. Information management
  43. ACARA’s confidential information
  44. Applicantsmust not, and must ensure that their employees, agents or subcontractors do not, either directly or indirectly record, divulge or communicate to any person any confidential information concerning the affairs of ACARA, the Commonwealth or a third party acquired or obtained in the course of preparing a Application, or any documents, data or information provided by ACARA and which ACARA indicates to Applicants is confidential or which Applicants know or ought reasonably to know is confidential.
  45. ACARA may require that all written information (whether confidential or otherwise and without regard to the type of media on which such information was provided to Applicants) provided to Applicants (and all copies of such information made by Applicants) be:
  46. returned to ACARA - in which case Applicants will be required to promptly return all such information to the address identified by ACARA; or
  47. destroyed by Applicants - in which case Applicants will be required to promptly destroy all such information and provide ACARA with written certification that the information has been destroyed.
  48. ACARA may exclude from further consideration any Application lodged by anApplicant who has engaged in any behaviour contrary to paragraph 4.1.
  49. Applicant’s confidential information
  50. Subject to paragraphs4.2.2 and 4.2.3, ACARA will treat as confidential all Applications submitted by Applicants in connection with this Request.
  51. ACARA will not be taken to have breached any obligation to keep information provided by Applicants confidential to the extent that the information:
  52. is disclosed by ACARA to its advisers, officers, employees or subcontractors solely in order to conduct the Request processor to prepare and manage any resultant contract;
  53. is disclosed to ACARA’s internal management personnel, solely to enable effective management or auditing of the Request process;
  54. is disclosed by ACARAto the responsible Minister;
  55. is disclosed by ACARA in response to a request by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia;
  56. is shared by ACARAwithin ACARA’s organisation, or with another Commonwealth agency, where this serves the Commonwealth’s legitimate interests;
  57. is authorised or required by law to be disclosed; or
  58. is in the public domain otherwise than due to a breach of the relevant obligations of confidentiality.

Applicants should also refer to paragraphs 5.3.1.b to d.

4.2.3.Once a contract is entered into with the successful Applicant, the successful Applicant's Application will not necessarily be treated as confidential. Applicants should clearly identify in their Application response the information that they consider should be protected as confidential information should a contract be entered into with them. ACARA will only consider a request for confidentiality where:

  1. the information to be protected is identified in specific rather than global terms;
  2. the information is by its nature confidential; and
  3. disclosure would cause detriment to the parties concerned.
  1. ACARA will only keep information contained in, or obtained or generated in performing, any contract entered into with the successful Applicant confidential in accordance with the terms of the contract. Applicants should include in Attachment 7: Statement of Compliance with Contract in Schedule 1 any request for such information to be treated as confidential following the award of contract to it.
  1. Use of Application documents
  2. All Applications become the property of ACARA upon submission.
  3. Notwithstanding paragraph 4.3.1 and without prejudice to anything agreed in any subsequent contract, ownership of intellectual property in the information contained in an Application remains unchanged.
  4. However, ACARA may use any material contained in an Application, or otherwise provided by the Applicant, for the purposes of the Request process and the preparation and management of any resultant contract.
  1. Policy and law
  2. Ethical dealing
  3. ACARA’s policy is to engage in the highest standards of ethical behaviour and fair dealing throughout the Request process. ACARA requires the same standards from those with whom it deals.
  4. Applications must be compiled without improper assistance of current or former officers, employees, contractors or agents of ACARA and without the use of information improperly obtained or in breach of an obligation of confidentiality (including any obligation referred to in paragraph 4.1).
  5. Applicants must not:
  6. engage in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to their Applications or the Request process;
  7. engage in any collusive responses, anti-competitive conduct, or any other unlawful or unethical conduct with any other Applicant, or any other person in connection with the preparation of their Application or the Request process;
  8. attempt to solicit information from or influence improperly any current or former officer, employee, contractor or agent of ACARA, or violate any applicable laws or Commonwealth policies regarding the offering of inducements in connection with the Request process;
  9. engage in, or procure or encourage others to engage in, activity that would result in a breach the Lobbying Code of Conduct and APSC Circular 2008/4 Requirements relating to the Lobbying Code of Conduct and post separation contact with Government; or
  10. otherwise act in an unethical or improper manner or contrary to any law.
  11. ACARA may exclude from consideration any Application lodged by an Applicant that has engaged in any behaviour contrary to paragraph 5. In addition, ACARA may refer the matter to relevant Commonwealth, State or Territory authorities. This right is in addition to any other remedies ACARA may have under law or in any contract with a successful Applicant.
  12. Conflicts of interest
  13. Applicantsshould represent and declare in Attachment 2: Applicant’s Deed in Schedule 1 whether, at the time of lodging their Application, a conflict of interest concerning itself or a related entity exists, or might arise during the term of the contract or in relation to the Application.
  14. A conflict of interest means any matter, circumstance, interest, or activity affecting the Applicant (including the officers, employees, agents and subcontractors of the Applicant) which may or may appear to impair the ability of the Applicant to perform the contract diligently and independently.
  15. A conflict of interest may exist if:
  16. Applicants or any of their personnel have a relationship (whether professional, commercial or personal) with ACARA’s personnel involved in the evaluation of Applications; or
  17. Applicants have a relationship with, and obligations to, an organisation which would affect the performance of the contract or would bring disrepute to or embarrass ACARA.
  18. If at any time prior to entering into the contract, an actual or potential conflict of interest concerning itself or a related entity arises or may arise for any Applicants, that applyshould immediately notify the Contact Officer.
  19. If a conflict of interest arises, ACARA may:
  20. exclude the Application from further consideration;
  21. enter into discussions to seek to resolve the conflict of interest; or
  22. take any other action it considers appropriate.
  23. Application of law and Commonwealth policy
  24. Applicants are considered to have familiarised themselves with all relevant Commonwealth legislation and policies relating to the Request process and the provision of the Services including:
  25. Division 137.1 of the Criminal Code which makes it an offence to knowingly provide false or misleading information to a Commonwealth entity;
  26. theFreedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)which requires Australian Government departments and agencies to provide access to certain documents in their possession;
  27. the Auditor-General Act 1997(Cth) which allows the Auditor-General to conduct a review or examination, at any time, of any aspect of the operations of Australian Government agencies;
  28. the Ombudsman Act 1976(Cth) which authorises the Ombudsman to investigate the administrative actions of Australian Government departments and agencies and to investigate the actions of certain Australian Government contractors; and
  29. the Privacy Act 1988(Cth) which aims to ensure that contractors and their subcontractors do not engage in an act or practice that would breach the Information Privacy Principles if done by the Commonwealth. The Privacy Act also imposes obligations directly on contractors and subcontractors to comply with the National Privacy Principles.
  30. ACARA will not enter into a contract with Applicants:
  31. that have been named in Parliament as not complying with the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act1999 (Cth).

Note: For a fact sheet on Commonwealth legislation that may apply to Australian Government contractors see

  1. Matters concerning Application response
  2. Application response requirements
  3. Applicantsshould address each of the evaluation criteria specified in the table below by completing the Application Response Forms contained in Schedule 1. Applicants may include additional information in their Applications that is directly relevant to the Request for Application; however the Applicant’s response to each of the Application Response Forms will form the basis of the evaluation. Each Application Response Form should commence on a new page.

Item / Evaluation Criterion / Required Information / Applicant Checklist
1 / Service delivery / Applicants should provide details of how they would provide the Services by completing Attachment 3: Service Delivery in Schedule 1.
2 / Applicant's experience and referees / Applicants should provide details of their relevant experience by completing Attachment 4: Applicant's Experience in Schedule 1.
3 / Applicant’s management capability and key personnel / Applicants should provide details about their management capability and key personnel by completing Attachment 5: Applicant’s Management Capability and Key Personnel in Schedule 1.
4 / Financial viability / Applicants should complete the Attachment 6: Financial Viability Questionnaire in Schedule 1.
5 / Applicant’s compliance with the Contract / Applicants should indicate their compliance with the Contract by completing Attachment 7: Statement of Compliance with Contract in Schedule 1.

6.1.2.Applicants should provide their details by completing the form at Attachment 1: Applicant’s Details in Schedule 1.