QTenders: How to Find and Win Queensland Government Tenders

Queensland’s government tender system is in the middle of a change, and many guides online have not caught up. QTenders is still the public directory of Queensland Government tenders, but suppliers now register through the Queensland Procurement Solution, which runs on VendorPanel, and agencies are moving their tenders onto it. The procurement policy itself was rewritten too, with the Queensland Procurement Policy 2026 taking effect on 1 January 2026.

This guide explains how the pieces fit together in late 2026, how Queensland agencies buy, and how to respond well. If you also sell into other states, see our guides to buy NSW and Tenders WA; for the federal market, start with the AusTender guide.

What is QTenders?

QTenders, at qtenders.hpw.qld.gov.au, describes itself as the Queensland Government Tenders Directory: “an online service that provides information on procurement tender opportunities available across the Queensland Government.” It is run by the Department of Housing and Public Works, home of Queensland Government Procurement.

On QTenders you can:

• Search tenders by department, category, region, product and service group, and status. Business Queensland notes that it shows tenders that are open, closed or awarded.
• Read the Forward Procurement Pipeline, an interactive dashboard of future procurement opportunities before tenders are released. This is the best early signal you will get from Queensland agencies.
• Follow links to the Supplier Code of Conduct and other supplier information.

Awarded contract details are also published as contract disclosure open data on the Queensland Government’s open data portal, which is useful for finding incumbents and contract end dates.

Building work is separate. QBuild’s eTender site handles tenders for construction and demolition, fit-out and maintenance projects, so builders and trades need to watch it as well.

QTenders and the Queensland Procurement Solution

The Queensland Procurement Policy 2026 requires agencies using an open offer to publish the tender details through the Queensland Procurement Solution, and those details are then displayed on QTenders. In other words, QTenders is the shop window, and the Queensland Procurement Solution is where the transaction happens.

The supplier side is set up at supply.qld.gov.au, which explains that the government is “moving to a new procurement platform so you can find Queensland and local government tenders in one place”. The platform is VendorPanel, and the government is partnering with Local Buy, the procurement body of the Local Government Association of Queensland, so that state and council opportunities sit side by side. Buyers using VendorPanel include Queensland and local governments, government owned corporations, not-for-profits and universities.

How to register and get notified

1. Start at supply.qld.gov.au and follow the link to create your free business profile on the VendorPanel Marketplace.
2. Choose your supply categories. These are called Marketplace Lists. Pick every list that matches what you sell, because they decide which public tenders you are notified about.
3. Set your regions of service. Queensland is a large state, and notifications are matched to the regions you select.
4. Request an invitation and verify your account. You will receive a “get started” email to complete the setup.
5. Add colleagues and adjust notification settings, so each tender reaches the person who will decide whether to bid on it.

Then keep QTenders and the Forward Procurement Pipeline bookmarked: tender information continues to be posted on QTenders while agencies move to the new platform.

The Queensland Procurement Policy 2026 in plain words

The Queensland Procurement Policy 2026 (QPP 2026) applies to departments and statutory bodies under the Financial Accountability Act 2009, and government owned corporations are expected to embed its principles in their own policies. The Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 requires accountable officers and statutory bodies to comply with it. The government presented it as a major simplification of the previous rules.

It is organised around five pillars:

• Value for Queensland
• Local opportunities
• Easy to do business
• Open to new ideas
• Practical economic, environmental and social impact

The policy defines value for money as the “most advantageous combination of cost, non-cost factors and purposeful public procurement outcomes”. In practice, price is rarely the only thing scored. For significant procurements, agencies apply a “purposeful public procurement” evaluation criterion covering economic, environmental or social outcomes, and even routine purchases must invite at least one local, small and family, or regional business to quote.

Other parts of QPP 2026 that suppliers notice:

• Feedback. Agencies must offer feedback to every supplier who responded to a procurement. Take it every time.
• Supplier Code of Conduct. Suppliers must warrant that they comply with the Queensland Government Supplier Code of Conduct.
• Procurement Assurance Model. The Ethical Supplier Mandate transitioned to the Procurement Assurance Model on 1 January 2026, and agencies must not engage suppliers that are suspended under it.

Standing offers, panels and prequalification

Queensland agencies buy a lot through common-use supply arrangements, which the policy defines broadly to include standing offer arrangements, registers of pre-qualified suppliers, panel arrangements and preferred supplier arrangements. Where an arrangement applies, agencies must generally use it.

Arrangements are organised by category councils (for example building construction and maintenance, general goods and services, ICT, medical, social services, and transport infrastructure and services), and new arrangements are listed in the Queensland Government Arrangements Directory. To get on one, you respond when it goes to market, so register in the matching Marketplace Lists and watch the Forward Procurement Pipeline for upcoming arrangements in your category.

Construction and transport have their own prequalification systems:

• PQC System. Queensland’s whole-of-government Prequalification (PQC) System covers building contractors and consultants on larger government building projects. Smaller building work goes through registration with QBuild.
• Transport and Main Roads. Major works under the Transport Infrastructure Contract require current prequalification under the department’s own scheme, and Transport and Main Roads publishes a forward program of works.

If you work in building or civil construction, prequalification is the gate. Start the application well before the tender you want appears.

Local benefits and Indigenous procurement

Local opportunity is written into QPP 2026 as one of the five pillars, and the policy defines a local supplier as a Queensland supplier that maintains a local workforce, with a separate definition for Queensland regional businesses. The Queensland Charter for Local Content still applies to certain projects run by budget sector agencies, government owned corporations and rail entities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business participation is an outcome area within the policy, with targets for spend with Indigenous businesses. To count, a business must be at least half Indigenous-owned and listed on a recognised Indigenous business directory. Registered small businesses also benefit from faster payment terms, which Business Queensland explains on its supplier pages.

For a tender response, this means local content, regional delivery and Indigenous participation can all be scored. If you have genuine local presence or supply chain partners, show it with specifics: where your people are based, which local businesses you subcontract to, and what that delivers for the region.

How to respond to a Queensland Government tender

Read the whole invitation before deciding. Queensland’s policy pushes agencies towards streamlined documents, but conditions still vary by agency and category. Check the evaluation criteria, the purposeful procurement weighting and the contract terms, then make a deliberate bid decision. Our guide to the tender process explains each stage.

Map requirements to owners. Put every mandatory item, criterion and returnable schedule into a requirements and compliance checklist so nothing slips between contributors.

Follow the invitation’s rules on questions. Clarification and addenda arrangements are set in each tender’s own documents, so note the question deadline on day one and check for updates through the platform until closing.

Score on the criteria, with evidence. Write each answer to the criterion it addresses, and back claims with past contracts, named people and measurable outcomes. Our guide to tender writing covers the craft in detail.

Submit early. Business Queensland’s advice is to check signatures and deadlines and to submit well before the closing date, which is the time by which your submission must be both submitted and received.

Queensland responses now often carry a purposeful procurement section alongside the standard capability material. AutoRFP.ai handles the standard part well: it drafts from the answers your team has already approved, with the source shown for each, so your bid writers can put their time into the local and social outcomes that the evaluation rewards.

How Queensland councils tender

Councils are governed by the Local Government Act 2009, which sets out sound contracting principles: value for money, open and effective competition, development of competitive local business and industry, environmental protection, and ethical behaviour and fair dealing. The Local Government Regulation 2012 then sets when a council must seek written quotes or tenders.

Councils must publish tender invitations on their own website for a minimum period and take reasonable steps to publicise them in another way. The regulation’s own example is publishing an invitation in an industry publication or on the QTenders website. Councils can also buy without tendering in defined cases, including through arrangements entered into by the Local Government Association of Queensland’s procurement company (Local Buy), registers of pre-qualified suppliers and preferred supplier arrangements. Being on a Local Buy arrangement is therefore a practical route into council work across the state.

Make Queensland part of a repeatable process

Winning Queensland Government work in 2026 starts with being registered on the right platform, in the right categories and regions, and positioned on the arrangements agencies buy from. After that it is about consistent response quality and learning from the feedback agencies must offer. Our guide to how to win a bid covers the habits that lift win rates.

AutoRFP.ai supports that repeatability: it builds each draft from your approved content library, cites the source behind every answer, and routes any question your content cannot back to a colleague who can answer it. Our RFP software page walks through a government tender from intake to submission.