ACT, NSW, VIC, SA, WA, QLD, NT, TAS

Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is developing a Plan for the long-term management of the Murray-Darling Basin.    This will require extensive consultation with stakeholders, including the community.  Consultation will take traditional forms - such as town hall meetings, and shopfronts, as well as new innovative social media forms, such as online forums.   We are seeking the services of a professional, experienced company to develop a range of forums to enhance our online engagement with our stakeholders.    In addition we required that the successful tenderer be able to support the engagement through the provision of contact services (moderating and responding to web activities) and answering calls to our hotline number.   Development of online forums will commence as soon as the contract commences, and the support services will be required during our public consultation period (four months commencing in mid 2010).

Forums will be created around subject areas related to the Basin Plan as well as around geographic areas related to the areas of the Murray-Darling Basin.   We require the ability to have short-term and long-term forums and may need to add new forums quickly during the development and release of the Basin Plan.    In addition we want to ensure that all comments to the forums are captured and used to assist us with our engagement activities.   A range of frequent, regular reports will be required on the responses that are being received on the forums, during the intensive consultation period.

A draft version of the Basin Plan will be released in mid 2010.  Following this, an intensive public consultation period, lasting four months, will commence.  During this time the activity on the forums will greatly increase as will the number of phone calls to our hotline number.   We require that a contact centre be used to handle this increased level of activity and that only complex enquiries (ie those of a complex scientific nature) be passed on to the MDBA for response.

We are seeking responses from suitably qualified companies to provide these services to us.  We are particularly interested in innovative solutions from companies with a proven track record in social media activities.

The conditions for participation are that each Australian-resident tenderer and where appropriate, any subcontractors:

a) has a valid ABN or can provide evidence of application for an ABN;
b) is not bankrupt or insolvent;
c) is not named as not complying with the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999;  and
d) has not been convicted of or named as a party in any matter relating to breaches of environmental protection.

The MDBA will not enter into a contract with a supplier which has had a judicial decision against it (including decisions under appeal) relating to employment entitlements and has not paid the claim. Tenderers must include in their tender full details of such matters or a statement that they have no such claims against them.

End January 2010 to October 2010.

www.mdba.gov.au/about/tenders