Supplier information and opportunities
Find out how to become a Federation University supplier, what the procurement process involves and why it's important to comply with our terms and conditions.
The information on this page is for suppliers providing goods, services or works to Federation University, including:
- independent contractors
- labour hire providers
- employees and subcontractors of those suppliers.
If you're interested in becoming a Federation University supplier, you must be able to supply goods or services to our campuses, located in:
- Central Highlands
- Gippsland
- Melbourne
- Western District
- Wimmera.
Our standards
Accessing tender opportunities
To find tenders released by Federation University, you must be registered on Unimarket. Registration is free. If your organisation has more than one user, consider assigning an administrator with a generic email address to ensure all users stay linked.
If you need help getting set up, contact the Unimarket support team.
How we choose suppliers
Once your organisation is registered on Unimarket, your business profile will be visible to buyers looking for suppliers, including Federation staff.
The way we choose suppliers is affected by our procurement strategies:
- Social and sustainable procurement
- Indigenous procurement
- Anti-Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Guidelines
This means that we prioritise:
- local goods and services
- supporting social enterprises
- environmentally sustainable outputs
- fair-trade products
- diversity and inclusion in the supply chain
- opportunities for Indigenous businesses
- supporting safe and fair workplaces
- products that are free from exploitation or human rights violations.
If you receive a quote or tender request
Make sure you read all the information provided in a request for tender (RFT) or request for quote (RFQ) and familiarise yourself with the specifications and conditions. If you submit a tender or quote, specific criteria will be used to assess it, such as:
- Does the tender comply with mandatory and contract requirements?
- Does the tenderer meet or exceed expectations in capacity and capability, relevant skills and experience, timelines and quality assurance?
- Is the price good value? (The lowest price doesn't necessarily 'win' the tender, as we consider wider benefits to the University.)
Our final procurement decision is based on the total cost of ownership and risk analysis, including how these may affect the University’s financial position, reputation and strategic outcomes.
Unofficial quotes
The University is under no obligation to pay suppliers who submit invoices after verbal or unofficial requests for goods or services. Suppliers must not issue goods or services without acceptance of a Federation University Purchase Order (PO). The PO number must be written on the valid tax invoice issued to the University.
Supplier FAQs
Register your organisation on Unimarket or email your business capability statement to procurement@federation.edu.au. If you email, your details will be forwarded to the relevant stakeholder.
An approved supplier is an active supplier/vendor in Federation University’s purchasing system. A contracted supplier is a preferred University organisation or business that has an executed contract that was negotiated between both parties.
Supplier panels are lists of suppliers that have undergone a competitive tender process and entered into an agreement with Federation. Authorised University buyers can access a supplier panel that matches their requirements, then request quotes (according to approved spend thresholds) from those suppliers without requiring a new agreement.
All current public opportunities are advertised on Unimarket. To access them, you must register your organisation via the portal. We also advertise some public tenders on Buying for Victoria and Gippsland Business Connect.
Any company or business with staff undertaking work on a Federation University campus must register on Rapid Global, our contractor induction system, and have workers complete the applicable contractor induction modules.
To set this up, email propertyInfrastructure@federation.edu.au with your:
- company name
- contact person
- email address
- phone number.
We'll then send you a link to the Rapid Global portal and info about what to do next.