Why sell to the Australian Government?

Access a large potential market

The Australian Government is an attractive customer to businesses of all sizes across Australia, including those in regional and remote areas. The Australian Government also buys goods and services for use overseas.

In 2021-22, more than 92,000 contracts with a total value of $80.8 billion were awarded to businesses. Almost 51,000 of these contracts, valued at nearly $25 billion, were awarded to an estimated 11,060 different small and medium enterprises.

Your business could share in this. Selling to the Australian Government may be an opportunity to expand your client base, increase your income and grow your business.

To better understand these opportunities, please visit the What does the Australian Government buy? section of this website.

Arrangements to simplify processes

The Australian Government has structured processes for buying goods and services. The Australian Government wants to work with suppliers of all sizes and have made changes to these processes to make selling to the Australian Government easier.

For example, contract documentation is generally consistent for Australian Government purchases under $200,000 through the Commonwealth Contracting Suite, an Australian Government initiative that aims to save you time and money in preparing response documents. You may wish to familiarise yourself with the typical terms and conditions that can be expected for these contracts.

If you are an Indigenous business, small business, or supported employment provider, the Australian Government has also implemented arrangements to make it simpler to purchase from you. These arrangements are detailed in the Frequently Asked Questions section of this website.

Arrangements to ensure timely payment

The Australian Government has a Supplier Pay on-Time or Pay Interest Policy which means that in most cases where the procuring Australian Government organisation has acknowledged the satisfactory delivery of goods and / or services and receipted a correctly rendered invoice, it must pay suppliers within:

• 5 calendar days for eligible electronic invoices (eInvoices), where the Australian Government organisation and the supplier both have compatible eInvoicing capability via the Peppol network and have agreed to use this method of invoicing, or
• 20 calendar days in all other circumstances unless shorter payment terms have been agreed.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provides information and advice to business on how to adopt eInvoicing through the Peppol network to help businesses receive payment faster. Please visit the ATO website for more information.