Questions and answers

Budget planning for the 2015-16 budget was just completed between the Australian Embassy and partners. Will there be a clear indication of forward budget estimates during contract negotiations for the Human Development Partnership (HD Partnership)?

Australian Embassy: The Australian Government does not at this stage have set forward budget estimates for the aid program. In 2016-17 we may have a budget reduction at a similar scale to this financial year. As we do not have budget certainty into the future, the basis of payment needs to be structured so that it can be flexible.

The Australian Embassy is considering an independent M&E managing contractor sitting outside of the HD Partnership contract. We would like feedback on this proposed model.

Partner comment: It is beneficial to have M&E sit inside the head contract. When M&E is run externally to the head contract, it demonstrates some independence but it can miss a lot of the required information and creates a burden on those delivering the programs.

Australian Embassy: We recognise there are pros and cons of working through various models. In the education sector in Indonesia, the independent M&E managing contractor acted as a 'supportive/critical friend'. This is the approach that we may consider taking here.

Partner comment: USAID has a separate M&E contractor that has just started for Avansa. We can look at lessons learned from this model.

Given the HD Partnership managing contractor will be working across multiple sectors, will there be greater influence on common policy issues such as public financial management and human resources? For example, in the health program it has been difficult to get traction on human resource issues due to a lack of influence in the Civil Service Commission.

Australian Embassy: By bringing together some service delivery sectors we may be able to bring together common issues for consolidated policy dialogue, analysis and interventions. This may be more useful in discussions with GoTL. In a lot of our sectors, we are managing a lot of contracts. Through consolidation and having one contract in place, we hope to have greater coherence and the ability to elevate key policy issues.

Is there any more detail on the gender equality aspect of the contract?

Australian Embassy: The Australian Government's main vertical gender intervention is through the existing Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) program implemented by The Asia Foundation. That program will not be pulled under this contract. Under EVAW, it is intended that a lot of the program activities will have an impact across the broader Australian Embassy portfolio.

Under the HD Partnership, we will be providing selected gender support across a range of Australia's development activities in Timor-Leste (not only the sectors under the HD Partnership). We may also invest in interventions and resourcing for vertical activities, and advocacy where we think we can be most effective. DFAT's new Gender Strategy (to be released soon) will include new areas such as economic diplomacy. Work will need to be done under the HD Partnership on how these new areas will be implemented.

Will there be fewer partners if you move to a single contract across these sectors?

Australian Embassy: No – we anticipate that we will still work with a range of partners and grant management will be a function under the HD Partnership. There are good reasons for engaging through NGOs for some of our programs – these reasons will continue.

What is the preference for contracting?

Australian Embassy: The RFT will state that bids can be made by single contractors or a consortium. There is a preference for DFAT to contract with a single entity. That single entity can subcontract to other entities.

Prospective bidders will be in contact with implementing agencies and GoTL to gather information. Can we limit the burden on these parties by setting up sector briefings?

Australian Embassy: This is a good idea. We can set up sector briefings to streamline the process. We will be requesting prospective bidders to be mindful of the time of partners/GoTL. We will also provide documentation on the website. We request partners to please provide the Australian Embassy with any useful documentation that you would like released, even if in draft form.

What is the depth of support / leadership that the managing contractor will need in the corporate services team?

Australian Embassy: The contractor will need to provide the usual corporate services – e.g. HR, IT, fleet management, etc. However, this does not mean that NGO implementing partners will need to funnel their corporate services through the contractor. This is particularly the case given that many NGO partners have multiple sources of funding. There is the scope to be more flexible.

Who are the main beneficiaries of the existing education activities? Will the program focus on certain districts?

Australian Embassy: Under the existing basic education program we have grants with Baucau Teachers Training College (ICFP), Alola Foundation and UNESCO National Commission. We also manage a range of specialist support. We can upload a one page document on our existing education program. We are currently in the process of agreeing on a new design with the Ministry of Education as APRENDE never proceeded to implementation. At this stage, we do not know what districts we will focus on.

Will the health sector analysis and concept note prepared in 2013 inform the design of this program?

Australian Embassy: Yes, the HD Partnership will draw on these documents. We cannot use the original health or educations designs due to the changed budget envelope, but the contextual analysis is still relevant.

What measures are being taken to counteract a project of this scale starting in the middle of the GoTL's financial year? This can be distracting.

Australian Embassy: We would like contractors to provide feedback to us on what a good inception phase should look like (e.g. types of milestones and their timing).

Although the HD Partnership contract will be for $AUD 120 million, it is a consolidation of our investments in human development. Each pillar is being discussed with the relevant ministries on a sectoral basis. However, where this HD Partnership is different is that there will be scope to engage across sectors on common issues (e.g. stunting, HR, PFM). The annual planning process could have common themes that allow for programming across multiple ministries.

Even though this is a stop-go point for DFAT internal approvals and programming, we expect to novate a high percentage of contracts, particularly in health. We are already feeding into the GoTL 2016 budget planning process and showing continued support for existing activities. There will be no surprises for GoTL.

The Australian Embassy has stated its preference to contract with a single entity, but given this HD Partnership covers many sectors and goals, what type of company are you looking for? Are you looking for a typical managing contractor, one that is strong on management, or one that demonstrates sectoral experience?

Australian Embassy: We will leave this up to the market as we do not have all the answers. We want a real partnership between the Australian Embassy, the managing contractor and GoTL. Our preference is to contract with a single entity. The managing contractor has to be able to lead strategic direction and implementation. We are hoping this cross sectoral opportunity will draw good people in – it's a very good opportunity to tackle core development challenges and we are aiming to attract good minds and good managers.

Should bidders put forward sector leads?

Australian Embassy: The RFT will set out which positions bidders will need to be nominated in their tender. The RFT will also specify that bidders can select additional people for positions of their choice to take part in the interview process.

What is the role in the bid for other partners like NGOs?

Australian Embassy: The RFT will specify which contracts will be novated to the new HD Partnership. However there is still scope for existing partners to work with bidders to suggest changes to the scope of existing arrangements. Whether novated agreements and individuals continue under the winning bidder in the medium term will depend on performance and need, in the usual way.

Who is going to manage the managing contractor?

Australian Embassy: The Australian embassy development teams – but aid teams have been downsized over the last couple of years. This HD Partnership will free up the Australian Embassy teams to have policy dialogue with GoTL rather than excessive amounts of contract management.

Sanitation will be moved to sit under the health pillar. Does this pose any issues?

Partner comment: No, there will not be any issues so long as the new program is able to maintain relationships across the two ministries. Rural sanitation is better led by Ministry of Health.

When is feedback due?

Australian Embassy: Feedback is due by 28 September 2015 to Timor.HD@dfat.gov.au. If you are currently working in these sectors, and the Australian Embassy is seeking your advice, you will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.