creatives Working with council

There are some straightforward rules to apply when you’re thinking about applying to a creative gig or listed opportunity on the Creative Ballarat website - and once you know the expectations it becomes easier to clearly respond to opportunities. This page of advice has been developed in direct response to questions from our creative sector. If there are areas or questions that you think this information doesn’t cover, please just drop us a note and we can consider adding it in!

The City of Ballarat is guided by our Procurement Policy. This outlines our responsibility to handle all financial issues with the required amount of transparency and accountability. The Procurement Policy protects the City of Ballarat Council Officers and it protects you, as potential suppliers and vendors to the city. We use this document as a guide to ensure impartiality and the application of best practice.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A ‘REQUEST FOR QUOTE’ AND AN ‘EXPRESSION OF INTEREST’

There are two different ways in which the Arts & Culture Unit primarily puts out call-outs for creatives, artists, makers and others through the Creative Ballarat website. These are either requests for quotes or inviting expressions of interest.

A Request for Quote (RFQ) specifically asks applicants to provide a cost in response to what the brief is looking for. You should expect an RFQ to have a clear brief of work and requirements, and you will be asked to provide a clear budget in response. You are being asked to tell us “how much will you charge to complete this specific work?” Generally we will have a budget in mind as to the amount of money that is allocated to complete the work, but sometimes we are not in a position to share it. So we are looking for your best assessment of how much you will charge for completing the work.

An Expression of Interest (EOI) is an invitation for applicants to let us know if they are interested in being considered for the creative work, and they are asked to demonstrate their suitability by explaining their process, their experience and their knowledge of a specific area in response to a supplied brief. It might be that a project requires a mix of different creative skills and knowledge, and the EOI is seeking groups of people to put themselves forward. In this instance we want to know who is interested in doing the work, and what kinds of skills make them right for the gig.

In no instance should you be asked to supply creative concepts or offer your intellectual property up as part of the process.

sample rfq

RFQs require your close attention to pricing out your response. We want to see what your idea is, how it closely responds to all of the details in the document and then to translate each of those actions into your quote. Detail what is involved in doing your work and tell us how much it costs.

sample eoi

EOIs will also have timelines and other expectations that we expect you to pay attention to. When you respond to an EOI make sure you have thought about everything listed in the EOI document and have an answer for everything! We will often provide a budget guide for the activity, giving you a sense of the allocation of time and energies you can invest into the project.

selection criteria - rfq

An RFQ will have a section clearly listed in the document which says SUBMISSIONS OR SELECTION CRITERIA. Don’t ignore this! This selection criteria is the stuff we use to decide whether you’ve responded to the RFQ properly or not. If you forget to include any one of the items listed it’s unlikely you’ll be awarded the job.

selection criteria - eoi

An EOI will have a section marked SUBMISSIONS OR SELECTION CRITERA. Don’t ignore this! This selection criteria is the information we use to decide whether to invite you to complete the work or not. If you forget to include any one of the items listed it’s unlikely you’ll be awarded the job.

HOW IS A SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE SELECTED?

Under both processes of a Request for Quote on an Expression of Interest a similar selection panel model may be followed. The Creative City Unit will establish a panel of internal officers (and external people if appropriate) to decide upon the successful candidate. This panel reviews and independently scores each submission a mark out of 5 against the publicly available selection criteria. An additional weighting is given to those who live in the Ballarat region. A successful candidate is selected and the unsuccessful candidates are advised.

The unsuccessful candidates can receive feedback on their submission - but not receive information about any other candidate.

SECURING THE WORK - RFQ

The successful RFQ candidates are advised that they’ve got the work. They are then sent a Letter of Agreement. This letter spells out what they’ve agreed to do and by when in a series of ‘Deliverables’. This letter makes it very clear that all copyright and IP rests with the creators, and that the City of Ballarat is purchasing the use of the work for a specific period of time or reason.

Once the successful candidate reviews the letter and signs it, they are promising to deliver the work on time and within budget. There are a whole set of protections in the letter, including if things need to change or be cancelled. This letter makes it really clear how we work together.

SECURING THE WORK - EOI

More than one group of candidates may be shortlisted for an EOI. The unsuccessful candidates are then notified.

The shortlisted candidates may then be invited to provide creative responses to an additional information and an extended brief - but they will be paid for this creative output. This additional stage of calling for a creative response is often necessary when commissioning a temporary public art piece for example, allowing wider groups within Council to view and assess the creative direction.

Sometimes a second panel is called to assess the shortlisted candidates, and then the evaluation happens for a second time.

The successful EOI candidates are advised they have secured the work. They are then sent a Letter of Agreement. This letter spells out what they’ve agreed to do and by when in a series of ‘Deliverables’. This letter makes it very clear that all copyright and IP rests with the creators, and that the City of Ballarat is purchasing the use of the work for a specific period of time or reason.

becoming a vendor with the city

Everyone who provides a service to the City of Ballarat needs to be registered as a vendor. It is a process of several steps:

Work out if you need an ABN. In order to be a vendor, you will be asked if you have an Australian Business Number (ABN). It’s pretty straightforward to secure an ABN, you just need to work out if you need one to operate a business or if you don’t need it because you’re an individual or sole trader.
If you don’t need an ABN because you’re a sole trader. If you aren’t going to need an ABN because you’re trading as yourself, then Council needs you to declare this through completing a form called Statement by a Supplier Not Quoting an ABN. Fill in the form online and generate a copy as a PDF.
Complete the Eftsure process. Now you need to complete the vendor process through Eftsure. Contact your council representative and advise your contact details. To increase security of its supplier payments and to combat the ongoing risk of fraud and scams, Council is using the Eftsure Software system as part of its accounts payable procedure. Suppliers who already do business with Council should be prepared to receive an email from a company called Eftsure asking you to confirm your business information with them. This information will include your business name, ABN, and business bank account information.
The Eftsure software solution is an independent, continuous controls monitoring system that monitors online transactions in real-time and in real-time with suppliers. It guarantees precise electronic funds transfers, giving its customers and their esteemed suppliers more confidence that when payments are made, the funds are going where they are meant to.
Receive a vendor number. Once you’re registered on the Council vendor system we can now generate you a purchase order for any work you’re completing on our behalf.

If you’ve got any problems with this process, reach out to our Accounts Payable team who can provide you with advice and guidance.

Getting a purchase order

Now you have your Letter of Agreement and you’ve signed it, and you have a Vendor Number. You’ll be issued with a Purchase Order Number that correlates to the job you’re doing for us. This number confirms the work you’re doing and states how much you are going to invoice the Council for once the work is done. This is sent through to you via email from your appropriate Council Officer. You’ll know it’s a Purchase Order number because it starts with BACC-xxxxxxx.

issuing invoices

Everyone needs to get paid! The City of Ballarat has 30 day payment terms, and we can only approve the payment of your invoice once we’ve received the itemised ‘deliverables’ from your Letter of Agreement. If we believe you have satisfactorily completed the delivery of the goods and services we will ask you to send us an invoice.

But what if you’ve never sent an invoice before?

Here’s a sample.

You’ll need to make sure your invoice has:

Your ABN or a statement that you’re a sole trader and not declaring an ABN
The name of your business
An invoice number (it might be the first ever invoice you’ve sent, so make it 0001!)
Clearly state if you’re declaring the GST or not
Your full name and address
Your purchase order number which starts with BACC-xxxxx
Ensure the bank account you list is the same one you provided to Council as a vendor

Got any further Questions?

We can help. We know it can be a little daunting to start trading in your creative enterprise, but the Creative City team can support you every step of the way. Simply drop us a note and let us know what you need.

Working with Council