Provision of Legal Services (Panel Contract)
Tender Overview
About this tender
Overview Coffs Harbour City Council is seeking tenders from appropriately qualified and experienced legal firms interested in participating in the City's new legal services panel arrangement under contract CON00818, Provision of Legal Services (Panel Contract). About Coffs Harbour is positioned halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. It is a thriving regional coastal city of approximately 85,000 people and enjoys a unique lifestyle created by its geography and climate. Nestled between coastal slopes of the Great Dividing Range and the 80 kilometres of golden beaches that form its boundaries, Coffs Harbour has gained a reputation as a dynamic and rapidly expanding economic hub. Scope Provision of legal services to Coffs Harbour City Council under a panel contract arrangement (CON00818) Contractor Requirements Tenderers must be appropriately qualified and experienced legal firms Successful tenderers will be required to enter into a binding legal agreement with the City under the General Conditions of Contract outlined at Part 4 of the RFT document Instructions to Tenderers Tender documents may be obtained after registration on the etender portal. Completed responses must be submitted electronically via the electronic tender box, which is the only method of responding. Tenderers must use the attached MS Word version of the RFT Returnable Schedules Part 5 document to lodge their responses and to maintain their response in the format provided. Respondents will receive a Successful Submission Receipt, timed and dated upon completion of their submission upload. The City is not bound to accept the lowest priced tender or all or any part of a tender, and reserves the right to conduct the tender process and select the successful respondent as it sees most advantageous. Except for the named enquiries contact, City staff are unable to respond to verbal enquiries in relation to the proposal, and canvassing of any City official regarding this RFT will render that tenderer's tender ineligible for consideration. Late, verbal, faxed, or emailed submissions may not be accepted. Enquiries Enquiries regarding this RFT should be directed to Mr Darryl Hancock, Group Leader Corporate Governance, via the online forum. All enquiries must be lodged via the portal no later than 10am on Friday 11 September 2026.
How to respond to this tender
A strong tender response is clear, compliant, and backed by evidence. These steps apply to most Australian and New Zealand public tenders.
Read the requirements in full
Open the official listing and download the full tender pack. Note the response schedules, evaluation criteria, mandatory conditions, and the exact closing time and lodgement method.
Confirm you are eligible and it is worth bidding
Check licences, insurances, certifications, and any conformance requirements before you commit. A quick bid or no-bid decision saves days of wasted effort on a tender you cannot win.
Answer every criterion with evidence
Respond to each evaluation criterion directly and back your claims with concrete examples, referees, and past performance. Address the buyer’s stated need, not a generic capability statement.
Lodge early through the official portal
Submit through the source portal well before the deadline. Late or incorrectly lodged bids are almost always rejected, so leave time for uploads, portal errors, and last-minute questions.
