Right, there's a lot happening on AusTender this week.
Let's start with: estimated one billion dollars. That's what the ATO is putting on the table for a single contract, their Interactions Centre Solution. They want someone to completely replace their contact centre system by December 2028. This is the whole thing, a managed service that handles every call, every interaction, the lot. If you work anywhere near large-scale contact centre infrastructure, this is probably the biggest single opportunity you'll see this year. You've got about five weeks, so there's time to put something serious together.
But here's the thing about this week: some absolute monsters are closing in days, not weeks.
Thursday is going to be chaotic. You've got half a billion dollars worth of Northern Endeavour decommissioning closing. This is the government finally dealing with that stranded FPSO off the Northern Territory coast that's been a headache for years. They need someone to permanently plug and abandon nine oilfield wells. If you do specialist offshore work, you already know about this one, but Thursday's your deadline.
Same day, Defence has $200 million in psychological security services closing. This is panel work supporting AGSVA and ASIO security clearances. Anyone doing psych assessments for vetting should be finalising their submissions right now, not next week.
And if you blinked, you might have missed that CSIRO's $50 million greenhouse construction closes in just two days. They're building PC2 greenhouses and a speed breeding facility. That's Wednesday. Gone.
The Defence Spending Wave
The broader picture this week is pretty clear: Defence is spending money like it's going out of fashion. There's easily $1.1 billion just from DSRG across 19-odd tenders, and they're hitting everything. Fire systems at Palmer Barracks, infrastructure across bases from HMAS Stirling to RAAF Edinburgh, civil works at Lavarack. If you're in construction or facilities management with Defence clearances, this is your moment.
The $800 million Mulwala/Benalla facility redevelopment is the big infrastructure play. They want a managing contractor for the whole thing. Thirty days to close. And there's an interesting one around sovereign drones. Defence is actively building Australian SME capability for "disposable and attritable" UAS platforms. They're dead serious about not relying on overseas suppliers for certain drone categories.
Speaking of things that are actually quite important, there's $100 million sitting there for Aboriginal water entitlements purchasing. The Department of Climate Change wants to buy up to 15 gigalitres of surface water rights across the NSW/Queensland border rivers, Barwon Darling, and Namoi catchments. This is First Nations water rights policy playing out in real procurement. Significant stuff beyond just the dollar value.
International Development Window Closing
Now, if you work in international development and aid, stop reading this and go check your submission status. The Timor-Leste private sector development program, that's $80 million over ten years, focusing on agriculture and tourism, closes in seven days. Kiribati employment pathways at $37 million closes tomorrow. Indonesia infrastructure evaluation closes tomorrow. DFAT is active and the deadlines are tight.
Health Portfolio Active
The Health portfolio is moving too. Beyond that eye-catching $200 million enterprise computing tender (which gives you 35 days), there's a rural locums EOI closing Thursday, PFAS biomonitoring work just dropped, and they're commissioning disability training content for the APS Academy. The newly restructured Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is clearly getting stuck into procurement.
The Hidden Gems
Let me point you at some things that deserve attention but probably aren't getting it.
The Bureau of Meteorology needs someone with a crewed vessel to deploy tsunameter equipment across the Tasman Sea, Coral Sea, and Indian Ocean. $2 million, closes tomorrow. You're literally maintaining Australia's tsunami warning system. Not glamorous in the boardroom, but genuinely important work.
There's a tender for psychiatric assistance dogs for veterans, the full service lifecycle for PTSD support dogs. Closes Thursday, value TBC. If you're in this space, the DVA is buying.
For the marine science crowd: the Australian Institute of Marine Science wants someone to design a device that can deploy one million coral reseeding devices from vessels. Great Barrier Reef restoration at scale. $2 million, eleven days. This is cutting-edge environmental tech with real-world application.
And here's a quirky one: the Bureau of Meteorology also needs $10 million worth of rain gauges. Closes Thursday. I don't know who supplies rain gauges at that scale, but if you do, there you go.
Scientific equipment suppliers should be paying attention generally. There's a wave of lab equipment tenders for sports drug testing, mass spectrometers, chromatographs, HPLC systems. Multiple contracts across the Department of Industry and Sports Integrity bodies. Niche but steady work.
The Bottom Line
If I had to sum up what's hot right now: Defence infrastructure is the obvious leader. Health is active. International development has money moving but tight windows. And the ATO contract is going to dominate tender conversations for months.
Quiet week for new publications though, only eight fresh tenders dropped since Monday. Most of the action is in what's already out there approaching deadline.
That's the week. Good hunting.