Agreement · Government Procurement & Tendering
Commonwealth Contracting Suite: approach to market and contract (procurements under $1 million)
Guide to the Commonwealth Contracting Suite (CCS) for agency lawyers and suppliers: when it must be used, which parts are non-negotiable, where suppliers can negotiate, and how to respond, following the 2025 Commonwealth Procurement Rules.
- Kind
- Agreement. A contract between two or more parties.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 17 October 2026 against the official form at finance.gov.au and the 3 authorities it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Link to the official form. Licence: Link only. The Commonwealth Contracting Suite is published by the Department of Finance under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, which does not permit commercial reproduction or adaptation.
Where this comes from
The official form is published by finance.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-17.
When to use it
Use when a non-corporate Commonwealth entity buys goods or services under $200,000 (where the CCS is mandatory) or under $1 million (where it is available), or when advising a supplier responding to a CCS approach to market. Always generate documents from the CCS smart-forms; do not reuse old copies.
How AI may be used
AI may compare a supplier's proposed departures with the CCS terms and summarise the approach to market, but the current official version must be used and the non-negotiable terms cannot be altered.
AI may
- Summarise an approach to market into a list of requirements, conditions for participation and response formats.
- Compare a supplier's proposed changes with the Commonwealth Contract Terms and flag any that touch non-negotiable terms.
- Draft clarification questions for the supplier's lawyer to review.
AI must not
- Must not rewrite or paraphrase the Commonwealth ATM Terms or Commonwealth Contract Terms for use in a contract.
- Must not upload approach-to-market documents if the ATM terms restrict disclosure to third parties.
- Must not draft statements of capability or experience the supplier has not confirmed.
The lawyer checks
- The documents were generated from the current CCS smart-forms after 17 November 2025.
- Any requested change relates only to Additional Contract Terms, which can be negotiated.
- The CCS is appropriate for the risk and value, or a reason for not using it is documented under RMG 420.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer. Licence: Link only. The Commonwealth Contracting Suite is published by the Department of Finance under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, which does not permit commercial reproduction or adaptation..
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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