Application Form and Guide for School Cleaning Panel Status
Published by the
Infrastructure and Sustainability Division
Department of Education and Training
Melbourne
February 2015
©State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2015
The copyright in this document is owned by the State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), or in the case of some materials, by third parties (third party materials). No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, the National Education Access Licence for Schools (NEALS) (see below) or with permission.
An educational institution situated in Australia which is not conducted for profit, or a body responsible for administering such an institution may copy and communicate the materials, other than third party materials, for the educational purposes of the institution.
Authorised by the Department of Education and Training,
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne, Victoria, 3002.
This document is also available on the internet at
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/infrastructure/Pages/cleaning.aspx
Contents continued
1 Application Guide 3
1.1 Effect of this guide 3
1.2 Further information and clarification 3
1.3 Assessment process 3
1.4 Conditions of application 3
1.5 Assessment criteria 4
1.6 Timelines 4
1.7 Achievement of Panel Status 4
1.8 Remaining on the Panel 4
1.9 Panel Status, continuing obligations and revocation 5
1.10 Enquiries 5
1.11 Lodgement of applications 5
1.12 Disclaimer 5
1.13 Statutory declaration 6
1.14 Non-conforming applications 6
1.15 Changes 6
1.16 Updating details 6
1.17 English language and metric units 6
1.18 Commercial background assessment 6
1.19 Assessment of applicant's industrial relations record 7
1.20 Ownership of applications 7
1.21 Employment conditions and equal opportunity 7
1.22 Use of information and exchange of information between government agencies 7
1.23 Confidentiality and disclosure 8
1.24 Costs of application 8
1.25 Government procurement guidelines 8
1.26 Assignment and subcontracting 8
1.27 Services delivered under panel system 8
1.28 Definitions 9
2 Application Form 3
2.1 Application type 3
2.2 Previous Panel registration 3
2.3 School cleaning contracts 3
2.4 Municipalities 4
3 Application Criteria 5
3.1 Occupational health and safety (OH&S) practices 5
3.2 Sound practices in human resource management 13
3.3 Compliance with industrial awards or instruments 17
3.4 Ability to effectively manage contractual commitments 21
3.5 Ability to provide client focussed services 23
4 Applicant’s Statutory Declaration 26
5 Supporting documents 27
5.1 Department Panel Agreement 27
5.2 List of Attachments 27
1 Application Guide
This Guide is for sole traders and companies with employees (Applicants) to submit information for assessment by the Department, to determine the eligibility of Applicants to tender for future cleaning contracts in Victorian government schools.
All School Councils are required to engage the services of a cleaning contractor with Panel Status.
Please complete ALL sections of the Application Form, unless otherwise specified.
Please DO NOT staple or bind your application.
1.1 Effect of this guide
No contractual or legal obligations arise from this guide beyond the intention of the Department of Education and Training (the Department) to assess applications and grant panel status to applicants, if appropriate.
This is not a tender process that will lead automatically to any contractual arrangement with a school. This guide does not guarantee that schools will offer, continue or extend cleaning service contracts to cleaners that gain Panel Status. The Department's intention is to grant panel status to suitable applicants, and those applicants will be eligible to submit tenders for future cleaning contracts.
A successful application enables the applicant to be listed on a panel of approved cleaning contractors. Approved applicants should then respond to calls for tenders from individual school councils advertised in daily newspapers. All contractors must quote their Panel registration number when submitting a tender.
Applicants are required to sign a contract with the Department (Department Cleaning Panel Agreement) and attach two copies of that contract to their application. Applicants who gain panel status will also be required to sign a separate contract with the individual school council (School Council Agreement for the Provision of Cleaning Services) if a school wishes to engage the applicant following a tender process.
1.2 Further information and clarification
Despite any other requirement of the Guide, the Applicant must, if so required, submit additional information to allow full consideration of the Application. There is no obligation on the part of the Department to seek clarifying or any other information not provided as part of the Application Form, if the application is incomplete.
1.3 Assessment process
The assessment process will be managed by the Department and its Contract Cleaners Assessment Committee (CCAC). The CCAC will make recommendations to the Department concerning the assessment of applications and the ongoing panel status of applicants, for determination by the Department. The Department is not bound to accept the CCAC recommendations.
1.4 Conditions of application
Each application must be submitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of these guidelines and all attachments and any additional terms and conditions that the Department may provide on its website at
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/infrastructure/Pages/cleaning.aspx
Applicants will be taken to:
· have read this guide, and any other information, including any changes issued and made available in writing by the Department for the purpose of applying;
· have considered all information relevant to the risks, contingencies, and other circumstances having an effect on their Application; and
· be satisfied as to the correctness and sufficiency of their application to be assessed against the Assessment Criteria of this Application form.
1.5 Assessment criteria
Applicants must demonstrate:
· sound practices to promote occupational health and safety
· sound practices in human resource management
· compliance with relevant industrial awards/instruments
· ability to effectively manage contractual commitments
· ability to provide client focussed services.
1.6 Timelines
The time frame for consideration of an Application is expected to be between 30 and 90 days. This is only a guideline and should not be relied upon by an Applicant.
1.7 Achievement of Panel Status
The Department is under no obligation to approve any Application.
The Department may deal with an Application as follows:
· reject the Applicant (with or without a time period prior to which the Department will not consider a further or amended Application from the Applicant) or;
· approve the Applicant for Panel Status; or
· approve an Application for Panel Status, but only with effect from the date when the Applicant has satisfied the specific requirement (eg. Applicant will be accepted on the Panel when the Applicant provides the Panel with documents confirming a particular matter).
Applicants must note that achieving Panel Status is in no way to be taken as approval by the Department of the adequacy or appropriateness of compliance by the applicant with any law or legislation.
Admission to the panel is determined by how well an applicant satisfies the assessment criteria
1.8 Remaining on the Panel
Once a cleaning contractor obtains panel status they will maintain panel status indefinitely unless:
· the Department revokes a cleaning contractor's panel status, or
· a cleaning contractor who gains panel status is not engaged by a school for a period of two years, in which case the panel status will cease automatically after the expiry of the two year period.
The Department (under the Department Cleaning Panel Agreement) and schools (under the School Council Agreement for the Provision of Cleaning Services) have the right to terminate these contracts. However, Panel Status is not affected by the termination of a School Council Agreement for the Provision of Cleaning Services by a school council.
The grounds for revocation are set out in the Department Panel Cleaning Agreement.
1.9 Panel Status, continuing obligations and revocation
Any Applicant that achieves Panel Status is under an obligation to maintain that status by ensuring continuing compliance with the assessment criteria and all relevant legislation, including occupational health & safety legislation and regulations, relevant industrial legislation and instruments, taxation legislation, corporate regulation and the criminal law.
Applicants with Panel Status may be subject to an audit at intervals at the discretion of the Department.
1.10 Enquiries
Applicants may request clarification of this document in writing. Any response by the Department will be written and may, if of general application, be issued as a change.
All enquiries should be directed, in writing via email, to
1.11 Lodgement of applications
Applicants shall address and lodge applications as follows:
labelled / APPLICATION FOR PANEL STATUSaddressed to / School Contract Cleaning Unit
Infrastructure and Sustainability Division
Department of Education and Training
and posted to / GPO Box 4367
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
OR delivered in person to / GOODS RECEPTION
Basement, 2 Treasury Place
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002
1.12 Disclaimer
While these guidelines and Application Form have been prepared with all due care, the Department does not warrant the document is free from errors or omissions.
Please advise the School Contract Cleaning Unit if you identify any discrepancy, error or omission in the guidelines,
The Department is in no way liable for the accuracy of any information printed or stored by a user after downloading material from the Department's website. Any applicant who utilises an automatic language translation service in connection with the guidelines does so at their own risk.
1.13 Statutory declaration
An Applicant must submit its Application with a fully completed Statutory Declaration as set out in the Application Form. Applications not accompanied by the appropriate Statutory Declaration may be regarded as non-conforming. Failure to supply information in full may render the Application non-conforming. A non-conforming Application may be rejected by the Department.
1.14 Non-conforming applications
An application that is:
· at variance with or does not respond to or does not fully comply with any requirement of the Application; or
· contains erasures or is illegible;
may be deemed to be non-conforming.
The Department may, in respect of an Application that is non-conforming or which has been deemed by the Department to be non-conforming:
· reject and not further consider the application; or
· ignore any non-conformance in the application; or
· if it is possible to correct the non-conformance without affecting the probity of the assessment process, permit the Applicant to do so.
1.15 Changes
At any time, the Department may issue changes to the Guide for the purposes of clarifying documents or to notify any amendments to this Guide. Where a Guide is downloaded from the Department's website, Applicants assume responsibility for ensuring that any changes are incorporated or taken into account in their Application. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to check the Department's website for any changes prior to submitting an Application.
Applicants must sign any amendment or change to their Application and may be considered non-conforming if they do not do so.
1.16 Updating details
If information provided in an Application changes (for example, the ABN changes or the business structure changes) you must provide this updated information to the School Contract Cleaning Unit.
In some circumstances, such as a change of status from Proprietor Labour to Contractor with Employees, a new Application may be necessary.
1.17 English language and metric units
All Application Schedules and all communications with the Department must be in the English language. All references to measurements must be in metric units.
1.18 Commercial background assessment
By submitting an Application, the Applicant consents to the Department seeking further information and investigating the Applicant's commercial viability and financial status. Where an Act or Regulation requires that an applicant (as described by that Act or Regulation) be registered or licensed to carry out the services, evidence of registration or licensing must be produced by the Applicant in its Application. The Department may seek information from sources, including regulatory and law enforcement bodies, relevant to whether the Applicant can perform the Services.
1.19 Assessment of applicant's industrial relations record
By submitting an Application, the Applicant consents to the Department investigating the Applicant's Industrial Relations compliance on behalf of the Department.
1.20 Ownership of applications
All applications will become the property of the Department, which may use each Application for assessment for Panel Status.
Applicants shall retain intellectual property rights in their Application. By submission of an Application, each Applicant authorises the Department to copy, reproduce, use or supply intellectual property of the applicant for any purpose in respect of the assessment of the Application.
The Applicant will ensure that no third party intellectual property rights are infringed by the Department's possession or use of the material provided by the Applicant
1.21 Employment conditions and equal opportunity
Without limiting the obligations of any Applicant to comply with all industrial relations and employment conditions applicable to it, the Victorian Government requires that any contractor engaged by the Department ensures that the appropriate legislative minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment are afforded all employees engaged by the Applicant and any of its subcontractors.
1.22 Use of information and exchange of information between government agencies
By submitting an Application, the Applicant:
· authorises the Department to obtain from any Victorian Government department or agency, or any other Australian State or Federal department or agency, information including, but not limited to, details of the Applicant's performance during any previous or current contracts for services similar to those sought in this Guide; and
· confirms that to the extent legally possible it shall take all steps as are necessary to satisfy any request from the Department for information (including without limitation police criminal record statements or citizenship visa or residency status) as relating to any employee, shareholder or officer of the Applicant if that information could affect the potential or actual or ongoing delivery of cleaning services to the Department; and
· authorises the Department to contact any third party who is referred to in the Application, or the author of any documents which are provided by the Applicant in its Application.