Question:
Can you please clarify whether you are seeking to engage a supplier that must have their business registered in your local Toowoomba area or can a supplier be from anywhere in Australia?

Must the applicant/supplier be a Registered Training Organisation (RTO)?

Answered on 08/Dec/2025 11:45 AM:


1. TAFE Queensland is happy to consider suppliers from anywhere in Australia.

2. There is no requirement for the applicant/supplier to be a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

Question:
As we understand it, "Any materials developed for the purposes of the mentoring program will be owned by TAFE Queensland" - can this IP be shared between the supplier and TAFE Queensland?

Answered on 10/Dec/2025 03:58 PM:


The development of the TAFE Queensland mentoring program product will be TAFE Queensland IP.

Question:
Can you please provide some guidance on the program / tender budget

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 07:04 AM:


Thank you for your query regarding the program/tender budget. While I’m unable to provide the specific figure at this stage, I can share some general guidance on the approach:

• The budget should align with the scope and deliverables outlined in the tender documentation (e.g. location, 20 students and 20 mentors etc).

• Consider incorporating costs for staffing, travel, resources, and any compliance or quality assurance requirements.

• Allow for contingencies to manage unforeseen circumstances while maintaining value for money.

• Ensure that the proposed budget reflects sustainability and supports the program objectives effectively.

Question:
Can you please provide guidance on the evaluation criteria weighting

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 07:03 AM:


Thank you for your question regarding the evaluation criteria weighting.

In line with our standard procurement practice, we do not disclose the specific weightings for individual criteria. This approach ensures that all suppliers provide a comprehensive response that addresses each criterion equally, rather than focusing on selected areas.

We encourage you to review the published evaluation criteria in the tender documentation and ensure your submission demonstrates how your proposal meets all requirements outlined.

Question:
Can you please provide some more information about mentors - Will they be coming from the same organisations as the mentees? Are they currently in leadership roles? Have they had previous leadership training? Have these mentors already been selected / identified or will this need to occur as part of the proposed program?

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 07:02 AM:


Mentors will be able to be identified by the student or they (the student) will be matched to a suitable mentor via the program. The Centre, in 2026, will be utilising community networks and stakeholders to ‘advertise’ an expression of interest for mentors to support the students undertaking the program where the student does not identify a mentor themselves. These mentors could come from the organisations the students are employed at, the community or another location. Our target Mentors will be in supervisory or management role/s or may be First Nations Elders in community.

Question:
Can you please provide some information about the mentees. What types of roles are the mentees currently in (clinical / care / non clinical etc). What is the advanced diploma that they are / will be studying in? Have they commenced the advanced diploma? What are the timeframes on this? How will the mentee's participation in the mentoring program be integrated with their Advanced Diploma study load?

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 07:01 AM:


Mentees will be existing workers within the Aged Care, Nursing, Disability, Allied Health or Mental Health sectors within North Qld who are willing, and supported by their employer, to undertake the Advanced Diploma in Community Sector Management as a workplace pilot training program. The program, as indicated in the ITO documentation is 18 months. The operational participation will be designed and developed by the supplier through collaboration with the pilot Product Advisory Committee that commences in January 2026 for the program planned commencement in July 2026.

Question:
Do you have existing relationships with Elders, ACCOs, ACCHOs, or First Nations advisors we should prioritise, or should we propose our own network?

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 06:59 AM:


It is preferred that the supplier propose the network and leverage off established relationships to support the mentoring program development and delivery.

Question:
Do you foresee that ethics approval will be required to assists program evaluation?

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 06:56 AM:


Based on the current scope of the program and the evaluation approach outlined in the Invitation to Offer, we do not anticipate that formal ethics approval will be required. The evaluation is intended to focus on program outcomes and participant feedback within standard professional practice and compliance frameworks.

If any changes to the evaluation methodology introduce elements that require ethics oversight (e.g., research involving vulnerable populations or publication in academic contexts), we will review and advise accordingly.

Question:
I would like to understand more about the scale of co design and expectations around the breadth, depth and volume of consultation?

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 06:58 AM:


The successful supplier will be required to collaborate with the Centre and the Product Advisory Committee (PAC) that is commencing in January 2026 to oversee the design, development and implementation of the pilot higher level workplace program. The PAC will engage with stakeholders across the health, ageing, disability, and allied health sectors, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, to ensure the pilot reflects industry needs and priorities.

Question:
Are 20 Mentors and 20 Mentees the right numbers? (Usually you would be able to mentor 10-20 heads with one mentor)

Is the provision to upskill/ train Mentors who are staff already with the business or are we acting as the mentors to the students?

Are the training packs to be delivered online through the LMS or in person at the workshops? Or a mixture of both?

Do you have any further details on the LMS?

Answered on 12/Dec/2025 01:02 PM:


Thank you for your enquiry. The intent is for each student to have their own professional mentor to support them through the program, with twenty mentees (students) and twenty mentors. Mentors may be identified by the student or they may come from employers or community, the successful supplier is not the mentor to the student/s.

Training packs are to be delivered via multiple channels including the workshops and via TAFE Queensland Learning Management System (D2L), therefore a mixture of both. The TAFE Queensland LMS is compatible with IMS or Scorm 1.2 or Scorm 2004 or Plain HTML. If it is HTML you want WICKag level AA-2 adherence. If it’s html you want WCAG LEVEL AA/2 Adherence for accessibility and fully mobile responsive with copyright attribution for any images.

Question:
If the majority of the content used for this program is supplier's existing IP can that portion of the IP be shared IP, as it is already the property of the supplier? Not having this component as shared IP potentially restricts the supplier using its own IP in the future.

Answered on 16/Dec/2025 02:18 PM:


In reference to section 14.1 Existing Intellectual Property Rights

a. Each party retains all its Intellectual Property Rights which existed at the Contract start date or which it develops independently of the Contract.

b. The Supplier grants (and must procure that relevant third parties grant) the Customer an irrevocable, unconditional (subject to this clause), perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, worldwide, transferable and sublicensable licence to exercise all Intellectual Property Rights (including Intellectual Property Rights in Pre-Existing Materials) which are incorporated into any Deliverables provided to the Customer under the Contract, for any purpose of the Customer (including commercial purposes and future development of the Deliverables).

Question:
Multiple suppliers

Could you please confirm whether TAFE Queensland intends to appoint a single supplier under this procurement, or whether multiple suppliers may be selected?

Quality – evidence of past program outcomes

The response schedule requests evaluation reports, audit reports and outcomes/evaluations for past mentoring programs.

Our mentoring programs to date have been delivered as integrated components of broader workforce and education programs, and as such have been evaluated as part of the overall program rather than as stand-alone mentoring initiatives.

Could you please confirm whether integrated program evaluations and outcomes evidence will be acceptable for the purposes of this criterion?

Pricing structure and level of cost detail

The pricing response requests a “detailed” cost breakdown, including travel and accommodation, across Part 1 and Part 2, while also indicating that pricing should be provided as a lump sum.

Could you please clarify the level of detail required within the pricing submission (e.g. whether a high-level breakdown within a lump sum is sufficient, or whether a more granular line-item breakdown is expected)?

Answered on 17/Dec/2025 02:34 PM:


Question - Multiple suppliers - Could you please confirm whether TAFE Queensland intends to appoint a single supplier under this procurement, or whether multiple suppliers may be selected?

Response - In reference to Section 1: Introduction within Attachment 3 - TQC0013797 Specification

Suppliers may submit a joint offer in response to this Invitation to Offer. A joint offer is an offer submitted by two or more suppliers acting together. Where a joint offer is submitted the following requirements must be met:

1. Identification of Parties - The offer must clearly identify all parties involved and outline their respective roles and responsibilities in delivering the goods and/or services.

2. Legal Entity for Contracting - The offer must nominate a single legal entity to enter into the contract with TAFE Queensland, or provide a formal consortium agreement that sets out governance, accountability and dispute resolution arrangements.

3. Compliance with Requirements - All parties to the joint offer must comply with the requirements of this Invitation to Offer and any applicable Queensland Government procurement policies.

4. Liability - Each party will be jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract unless otherwise agreed by TAFE Queensland.

Please note, should a joint offer be successful, TAFE Queensland will form a contract with a single lead supplier. The lead supplier will be responsible for the execution of the contract with TAFE Queensland.

Question - Quality – evidence of past program outcomes. The response schedule requests evaluation reports, audit reports and outcomes/evaluations for past mentoring programs. Our mentoring programs to date have been delivered as integrated components of broader workforce and education programs, and as such have been evaluated as part of the overall program rather than as stand-alone mentoring initiatives. Could you please confirm whether integrated program evaluations and outcomes evidence will be acceptable for the purposes of this criterion?

Response - Suppliers are encouraged to provide evaluation reports, audit reports, and outcomes of evaluations/audits or similar to assist to demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of the suppliers’ previous work.

Question - Pricing structure and level of cost detail - The pricing response requests a “detailed” cost breakdown, including travel and accommodation, across Part 1 and Part 2, while also indicating that pricing should be provided as a lump sum.

Could you please clarify the level of detail required within the pricing submission (e.g. whether a high-level breakdown within a lump sum is sufficient, or whether a more granular line-item breakdown is expected)?

Response - The cost breakdown must provide TAFE Queensland with sufficient detail to allow assessment of value for money and ensure responsible use of government funding.

Example of acceptable detail: Travel costs: Flights and accommodation to Cairns from Sydney for two full-time equivalent staff to deliver training (two nights) – $2,000.00.

Question:
What is your style guide, required for customisation of program materials? Can you please share more information about that?

To enable smooth transition into your LMS - what are the crucial sync points? Can you please share more information about what your LMS looks like?

How many First Nations mentors do you currently have for the proposed tender project? Are all mentees First Nations?

Thank you so much!

Answered on 19/Dec/2025 01:44 PM:


1, TAFE Queensland has established brand and content style guidelines that must be followed. These guidelines cover the correct use of logos, co-branding and approved terminology within all content. The successful supplier will receive the necessary documentation, branding assets and imagery to support the development of relevant content and resources.

2.Training packs are to be delivered via multiple channels including the workshops and via TAFE Queensland Learning Management System (D2L), therefore a mixture of both. The TAFE Queensland LMS is compatible with IMS or Scorm 1.2 or Scorm 2004 or Plain HTML. If it is HTML you want WICKag level AA-2 adherence. If it’s html you want WCAG LEVEL AA/2 Adherence for accessibility and fully mobile responsive with copyright attribution for any images.

3.A mentor recruitment process will take place in early 2026. It is expected that this cohort will be a mix of First Nations and non-First Nations mentors. It is also expected that the student cohort (mentees) will include participants from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Question:
Are we attaching our responses which is Schedule A as a file?

Answered on 19/Dec/2025 01:47 PM:


Please complete Schedule A and upload as a PDF document and/or word document. The Invitation to Offer document provides details of what needs to be returned (uploaded) as part of your offer. You can also reference documents in your response and upload them to support the claims in the response Schedule.

Question:
Can you please clarify whether the 20 mentors (for this project) will be internal to TAFE QLD?

Answered on 13/Jan/2026 12:22 PM:


The intent is for each student to have their own professional mentor to support them through the program, with twenty mentees (students) and twenty mentors. Mentors may be identified by the student/s or they may come from employers or community, the successful supplier is not the mentor to the student/s and we do not anticipate the mentors being internal to TAFE Queensland. A mentor recruitment process will take place in early 2026. It is expected that this cohort will be a mix of First Nations and non-First Nations mentors. It is also expected that the student cohort (mentees) will include participants from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Question:
Will those external mentors be paid for services? If so, who will manage the payments?

Answered on 15/Jan/2026 01:21 PM:


Thank you for your question. At this stage, the Centre has not finalised any intent to remunerate external mentors beyond covering reasonable travel and/or accommodation costs associated with attending the scheduled training day, each term in Cairns, as part of the program (if required). Any further details regarding mentor engagement and associated costs will be confirmed and communicated if applicable.

Question:
Are there any provisions for external mentors to be provided with cultural awareness/competency? If so, who is providing the training?

Answered on 15/Jan/2026 01:22 PM:


Thank you for your question. The supplier will be required to tailor the training provided to mentors and mentees in accordance with the TAFE Centre of Excellence Culturally Appropriate and Safe Training Framework. This framework is included as a reference document within the Invitation to Offer. It is not anticipated that additional cultural awareness or competency training will be provided outside of this requirement.

Question:
What is your timelines for integration with broader pathways?

Answered on 15/Jan/2026 01:23 PM:


Thank you for your question. The Advanced Diploma workplace pilot is a stand-alone delivery program. The Higher-Level Pathways Subcommittee within the TAFE Centre of Excellence is currently exploring other possible articulation pathways within our sectors for both VET and higher education; however, these are separate initiatives and not integrated into this pilot at this stage.