Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member’s question is as follows:

The Request for Tender for the Provision of the Adult Migrant English Program and Related Services was released on 25 November 2009 and closed on 22 February 2010. The successful tenderers were announced in April 2011.

The NSW Adult Migrant English Service, under consortium arrangements with the NSW Department of Education and Communities, successfully won contracts in three NSW contract regions: Northern Sydney and Other Rural, Hunter/Newcastle and Illawarra/Wollongong. They were not selected to provide services in the other NSW contract regions.

The selection of preferred tenderers was made in line with the principles of Commonwealth procurement policy which include: value for money, the need to encourage competition, ensuring the efficient, effective and ethical use of resources, and consideration of the need for accountability and transparency. All tender responses were evaluated against publicly advertised evaluation criteria, taking into consideration the technical merit, relative risk, price, and financial viability of each tenderer.

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