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Defence · Base Operations & Facilities
Base services contracts don't go to the best FM operator. They go to the one who sorted DISP before the RFT dropped.
Garrison support, cleaning and grounds maintenance across the Defence estate look like commercial facility work right up until you read the conditions of tender. Capable FM firms get set aside every round because their bid read like a shopping-centre proposal and nobody checked their DISP position first.
The opportunity
An estate that never stops being serviced
Defence bases operate every day of the year, and so do the contracts that keep them running, housing services managed through DHA, garrison support, cleaning, grounds maintenance, waste and catering across establishments nationwide. The work reaches the market through AusTender, usually as multi-year estate service packages bundled by region, and behind it sits Australia's $330B+ defence investment over the decade, which keeps the estate growing rather than shrinking.
What makes this different from commercial FM is the buyer. Defence is a security organisation first and a landlord second. DISP membership is effectively mandatory for work involving access to defence establishments, every rostered worker needs personnel vetting, and the conditions of tender screen for both before a single quality criterion gets scored. Commercial credentials don't transfer on their own, the bid has to demonstrate a security posture, not just a service capability.
What we deliver
Built for the estate, not adapted from the mall
01
DISP readiness assessment
Where you stand against the membership level the RFT demands, and what closing the gap involves, established before you sink weeks into a bid you can't lodge compliantly.
02
Security-aware methodology
Rosters, inductions, escorting arrangements, key control and incident reporting written for a defence establishment. Evaluators can tell in a page whether you've worked inside the wire or only read about it.
03
Personnel & clearance schedules
Named roles mapped to the vetting level each requires, with recruitment and sponsorship pathways shown, the schedule that proves you can actually mobilise a cleared workforce.
04
Security management plan
Aligned to DISP obligations and the specific conditions of the RFT, not lifted from a generic WHS template with the word "security" swapped in.
05
ASDEFCON-structured responses
Where the RFT uses defence template formats, we map the response clause by clause so nothing gets scored non-compliant on structure alone.
06
End-to-end bid management
From a 24-hour go/no-go through compliance matrix, drafting, reviews and lodgement, the same discipline behind 1,000+ tender submissions.
The VXS evaluation lens
How base services tenders are scored, and where bids die
Critical sections in every base services tender
- Service delivery methodology, mapped to the RFT's clause structure, addressing base access, escorting and out-of-hours protocols
- Security management plan, the section defence evaluators weight hardest in estate services
- Personnel & clearance schedule, roles, vetting levels, sponsorship pathways and lead times
- Transition-in plan, mobilising a vetted workforce is the hard part; the plan has to show you know it
- AIC plan, local workforce and supplier commitments, scored where present
- Risk register, site-specific, security-literate, never templated
Where base services bids fail
- A commercial FM template lodged against a defence RFT, scored non-compliant before quality is even considered
- Boilerplate security plans that don't meet DISP obligations
- Personnel schedules that list roles but omit clearance levels
- Transition plans silent on vetting lead times, as if a cleared workforce appears on day one
- "We support Australian industry" AIC statements with no named suppliers and nothing measurable
None of these are writing problems. They're readiness problems, which is why we check them before the bid starts, not after it loses.
FAQ
Asked before every base services bid
Do we need DISP membership to win defence base services work?
For work involving access to defence establishments, which base services is by definition, DISP membership is effectively mandatory. Some RFTs require membership or evidence of an application at tender time; others require it by contract award. Either way, discovering the requirement after the RFT drops usually means the timeline is already gone. We assess your DISP position at go/no-go so the decision to bid is an informed one.
What is an AIC plan and is it scored?
An Australian Industry Capability plan sets out how the contract will build Australian industry, local workforce, named Australian suppliers, measurable local content. In services contracts it typically centres on where your people and supply chain sit. Where the RFT includes it, it is scored, and vague commitments score poorly. A defensible AIC plan names suppliers and commits to figures your business can actually stand behind.
Can SMEs realistically win defence contracts?
Yes, and base services is one of the more accessible entry points, because regional packages and subcontract roles under head contractors suit mid-sized operators. Commonwealth policy actively encourages SME participation in defence supply chains, and CDIC exists to support exactly that. The barrier isn't size; it's compliance discipline, DISP, vetting, and a bid that reads like it was written for Defence rather than recycled from commercial work.
Planning a defence bid?
We review your DISP status, capability alignment and ASDEFCON readiness before you commit.