This is very interesting...THE federal Government has clarified...

This is very interesting...

THE federal Government has clarified the timing of the release of a second major procurement tender for the $1.1 billion welfare smartcard but has raised the prospect that documents may hit the market as much as two weeks after originally planned.

Prospective suppliers are also now being asked to sign a confidentiality agreement for the tender, which will cover card issuance and management services for the $1.1 billion human services access card project.

Suppliers that sign the agreement will be issued a password that will allow them to access tender documentation once it has been released.

The Department of Human Services, which is responsible for the controversial initiative, has begun registering prospective suppliers for the second tender and said that documents will be issued in the fortnight following January 29.

The timing means that the department may get documents out in keeping with its initial hopes of putting the tender to market by the end of January. However, it also means that the government may miss its original target by up to weeks.

A spokeswoman for the department said that the tender documents were being given final quality checks before their release.

The card issuance tranche is likely to yield some of the best opportunities for Australian technology companies such as Keycorp and ERG Group to secure access card work as the Office of the Access Card is seeking up to three card suppliers.

The Office has previously said it will sign a master card supply agreement and two card subcontractors and has also said it will require local industry participation in the card issuance component of the project.

Suppliers will have until March 13 to respond to the tender, which will be the second major tranche of product and services work put to market.

Earlier this month the Department of Human Services called for bids for systems integrators. A further two tranches covering transaction services and the supply of Eftpos terminals are expected to be put to market in the first quarter of the year.