The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has released a Request for Tender through AusTender
to invite providers of home and community care services to form a panel of Veterans’
Home Care Service Providers Australia-wide.
Veterans’ Home Care provides home support services to entitled persons of the veteran
community Australia-wide.
These entitled persons will be aged or have some functional limitations, such as a health
condition, disability or frailty.
Veterans’ Home Care assists entitled persons by providing a small amount of practical help
around the home.
The role of VHC Service Providers is to deliver the services approved by VHC Assessment
Agencies to entitled persons.
Veterans’ Home Care services are delivered in the entitled person’s home.
Entitled person’s must be treated with respect, dignity and courtesy.
DVA currently has contracts with 162 VHC Service Providers across Australia that will
expire on 30 November 2017.
The Request for Tender process allows new organisations and existing VHC Service
Providers to submit a tender.
New contracts will commence from 1 October 2017 for a period of twenty six months,
with three extension options of 12 months each.
The Australian Government’s Aged Care reforms are changing the way services are being
delivered within home and community care programs, such as the Commonwealth Home
Support Program and the Home Care Packages Program.
During the life of the new contract, these reforms may have an impact upon the provision
of services under the Veterans’ Home Care Program.
The Request for Tender is competitive.
For existing VHC Service Providers who submit a tender, there is no guarantee a new
contract will be offered.
If a provider is unsuccessful, the period between the 1st of October and 30th of November
2017 will allow DVA to transfer affected Veterans’ Home Care clients to another Service
Provider in a compassionate manner.
It is very important that new organisations and existing VHC Service Providers responding
to the RFT read and understand the Veterans’ Home Care Manual, both the General
section and Part B for Service Providers.
The manual has been rewritten ahead of the tender release.
The VHC Manual forms part of the Draft Deed of Agreement at Annex A of the Request for
Tender.
DVA sets the fees payable to VHC Service Providers for the delivery of VHC services.
VHC Service Providers claim for services delivered
against the set rates per hour or proportionally for part hours.
The Veterans’ Home Care fee schedule and annual indexation arrangements are also set
out in the Draft Deed of Agreement at Annex A of the Request for Tender documents.
The annual indexation is applied to the fees on
1 January each year.
Tenderers must accept the VHC fee schedule or they will not be considered for a contract.
This is a Condition for Participation.
DVA will not guarantee a contracted VHC Service Provider any amount of work.
There are five documents that make up the Request for Tender, all of which can be
downloaded from the AusTender website.
The tender comprises of three parts: Section A is an overview of the documents
and requirements, including a summary of ‘what you need to do’.
Section B details the rules and information for this RFT process.
This includes the mandatory Conditions for Participation.
Any tender that does not comply with the Conditions for Participation, will not be considered.
Section B also includes the Essential Requirements.
As with the Conditions for Participation, any tender that does not comply with the
Essential Requirements will not be considered.
The Tender Rules and Evaluation Criteria are set out in Section B and will be used in
conjunction with the Conditions for Participation and Essential Requirements.
Section C is the Tender Response Form.
Tenderers must complete Schedules 1 to 8.
Schedule 1 is the Tenderer Declaration.
This should be scanned and provided as a separate PDF document.
Schedule 2 is the tenderer’s information including legal entity details, operational
capacity, representative and bank details.
Schedule 3 is the Statement of Compliance with the Request for Tender and Draft Deed
of Agreement.
Schedule 4 requires the tenderer to submit information on experience and performance
in delivering home and community care services,
knowledge of the veteran community needs and referee reports.
Schedule 5 relates to organisational capacity and quality assurance systems, including
accreditation details.
Schedule 6 requires information on personnel, qualifications and training.
Schedule 7 asks tenderers to complete a table that confirms its capacity to deliver services
in the chosen Veterans’ Home Care regions and Local Government Areas.
Schedule 8 requires tenderers to complete a table that confirms the types of services
to be delivered in the chosen VHC regions and
Local Government Areas.
There are 3 Annexes to the RFT: The Draft Deed of Agreement
The VHC Manual And the Service Delivery Areas and Information.
The tender documents contain detailed instructions on how to complete the schedules,
and the RFT document includes a checklist to help ensure your response is properly
completed.
You can also download further instructions from the AusTender website.
All documents must be lodged through the AusTender website no later than the closing
date noted on AusTender.
If you have any questions, send us an email.
Questions and answers we think may be useful to others will be published on AusTender,
so keep an eye out for them.
DVA will evaluate the Tenders against: the Conditions for Participation
the Essential Requirements and the evaluation criteria.
So, in summary, if you want to tender to provide Veterans’ Home Care services, you will
need to: * download all of the Request for Tender documents,
which comprise Sections A, B and C ; separate Annexes A, B and C, as well
as separate Excel Spreadsheet * read all of the documents carefully
* ensure you can comply with the mandatory Conditions for Participation and
Essential Requirements * check AusTender regularly
* email any questions you have to the address provided
* complete the Tender Response Form * sign the Tenderer’s Declaration
* and lodge your tender on AusTender before the closing time.
Ensure you leave ample time to complete and lodge the tender before the closing time.
DVA will have no discretion to accept your tender if it is late.
Thank you for your interest in this Request for Tender.