This Request for Tender (RFT) seeks proposals for the provision of external custodial workforce support and prisoner transport services for a period of 60 months. The services will be delivered in Alice Springs, Darwin, and Katherine. Key requirements include court cell management, secure prisoner escort and transport, and coordination of custody services. The contract commencement date is 27 August 2026. Tenderers must submit a comprehensive response including a draft operating plan, contractor personnel schedule, roster model, and training regime. The evaluation criteria include price, past performance, local content, capacity, and scope-specific criteria. A mandatory industry briefing will be held, and attendance is required subject to submission of a confidentiality deed poll. Site inspections are also mentioned as a possibility. Late tenders may not be accepted. Electronic lodgement is the only accepted method of submission.
The closing time for RFT responses is 2:00 pm Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) on Tuesday, 19 May 2026. Late tenders may not be accepted.
The successful tenderer will be paid the service fees in accordance with the agreed schedule of rates, set out at Schedule 10 of the proposed contract. During the transition phase, the successful tenderer will be paid the establishment fee.
The RFT responses will be evaluated for value for territory against the assessment criteria: price (20%), past performance (10%), local content (30%), capacity (15%), and scope specific criteria (25%), totaling 100%.
Tenderers are requested to submit their proposed draft training regime as part of the RFT response to demonstrate necessary skill and experience. Nominated employees will be required to have qualifications, skills or experience to properly perform the functions of a special correctional officer.
In the event of the contractor failing to meet agreed service level indicators, the territory reserves the right to apply an abatement to the contractor, which will be deducted from the next monthly service fee.
A site inspection is mentioned as a possibility, and attendance is mandatory if arranged by the department.
Tenderers will not be able to submit clarifications after 2pm on Thursday, 14 May 2026. The territory cannot guarantee a response will be provided to any clarifications received after this time.
