Any direction by the Department to the Provider does not in any way limit the Department’s rights under this Deed or the law. The Provider must immediately Notify the Department of any matter or incident relating to the Services that could be damaging to the reputation of the Provider, the relevant Prison or the Department should it become publicly known. The Department and the Provider must respectively nominate an Account Manager and a Contact Person for the Term of this Deed to handle the day to day management of, and communication under, this Deed. Business level expectations The Department provides no guarantee of: the number of Participants for the Services this Deed, including the number of Eligible Prisoners or Participants for any Prison; the number of Prisons and additional prisons for the Services under this Deed, including the number of Prisons and additional prisons in any State, Territory or location; and the accuracy of market and other information provided in the request for tender for this Deed. Additional Prisons The Department may, by any means or method: invite an expression of interest from the Provider to offer to deliver the Services at one or more additional prisons; and determine whether or not the Provider has the capability and capacity to deliver the Services at specific additional prisons. The Department and the Provider may agree to provision by the Provider of the Services at additional prisons on the same terms as specified in this Deed. Additional Services The Department and the Provider may agree to the provision of additional Time to Work Employment Services, other employment services or employment related services by the Provider, including agreeing on applicable terms and conditions and Ancillary Payments. The Department may vary certain terms Without limiting the Department’s rights under this Deed or the law, the Department may, at any time, vary Payments, Services and/or Prisons for all or part of the Term of this Deed: based on the Department’s assessment of projected changes to demand including the number of Eligible Prisoners and prisons; if a State, Territory or Prison withdraws from participation in the Time to Work Employment Service; or acting reasonably, for any reason as determined by the Department, by providing Notice to the Provider. If the Department exercises its rights under clause 34.1 this Deed is deemed to be varied accordingly and the Provider must perform all of its obligations under this Deed as varied.
What providers can expect from the Department Respect and support The Department will: respect providers’ role, experience and expertise treat each provider with courtesy and consideration meet regularly with providers adhere to agreed communication protocols with providers respond to providers’ queries, generally within 10 business days work with providers to resolve complaints, disputes or problems, and consider the perspective of all parties—including employers and job seekers—when developing resolutions support providers to implement program changes effectively maintain the National Customer Service Line maintain the Employer Hotline to facilitate connections between employers and providers. Openness and transparency The Department will: be transparent in our business dealings maintain honest and open communication provide consistent, accurate and timely advice maintain feedback mechanisms to support formal and informal feedback from providers consult providers wherever possible, generally through industry representatives—including on contract variations provide reasonable notice for providers to implement new or amended Guidelines. Integrity and accountability The Department will: observe the Australian Public Service (APS) Code of Conduct and APS Values adhere to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, including on principles of probity and ethical and fair dealings act honestly and in the best interests of the Government, the employment services industry, job seekers and the community be accountable for our decisions and actions support providers to comply with their deed requirements by: streamlining and simplifying Guidelines providing timely feedback from contract monitoring and program assurance activities providers’ information confidentially (subject to relevant deed provisions). Continuous improvement The Department will: work with the industry to promote better practice and innovation regularly review provider performance and deliver balanced and consistent feedback work with providers to help them meet the needs of employers and industry work with providers to reduce the administrative burden of managing and complying with continually develop its contract management capability to make sure providers receive high quality support.