The Defence Site Maribyrnong (DSM) is located on Cordite Avenue, Maribyrnong, approximately 10 kilometres north-west of the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, and encompasses an area of approximately 127 hectares.

In the mid-late 19th century, the area was established as a horse racing stud farm and was later purchased by the Cox brothers who operated the Maribyrnong Racecourse. DSM was acquired by the Commonwealth of Australia (Commonwealth) between 1908 and 1917 for the development of an explosives manufacturing complex. The site was used as a major explosives and armaments manufacturing facility until its closure. The site was also utilised by the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) (formerly the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)) and the Land Engineering Agency (LEA).

In the 1997 Defence Efficiency Review, DSM was identified as surplus to Defence requirements and identified for disposal. The site has been progressively vacated from the early 2000s with the exception of some ballistics testing undertaken by DSTG in one of the buildings.

As a result of its use over the past 100 years, DSM is significantly contaminated and will require substantial contamination remediation prior to disposal to ensure the protection of human health and the environment.

In 2009, the State of Victoria (represented by Places Victoria) entered into a priority sale agreement to the State of Victoria (represented by Places Victoria) and the Commonwealth was signed in 2009. Defence have been negotiating details of the sale arrangements with Places Victoria and these are expected to be completed during 2016. Irrespective of the outcome of these negotiations, Defence is committed to remediating the site prior to its transfer.

Substantial assessment of the contamination status of the soil, groundwater and infrastructure on DSM has been undertaken since 2001. This work has included the assessment of almost 3,000 soil locations and analysis of over 7,000 soil samples for a broad range of chemicals, over 600 chemicals per sample in some instances. Additionally, almost 1000 groundwater samples have been collected and analysed. These assessments identified that extensive contamination of DSM has occurred as a result of historic activities and past management practices. Remediation is required to ensure the protection of human health and the environment.

The remediation required at DSM is anticipated to be amongst the largest ever undertaken in Australia and will be one of the most complex undertaken due to its size and sensitive location adjacent to the Maribyrnong River, its heritage significance and its built infrastructure. Other complexities are associated with the broad range of contamination risks relating to explosives, chemicals and other hazardous material. The long and sometimes incomplete site history has resulted in uncertainty as to the activities conducted in some areas.

In mid-2012, Defence engaged a specialist consultant to develop a Remediation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP has been completed and outlines an approach to the contamination remediation services to be progressed at the site. The RAP broadly divides the site into six "audit areas". The RAP is available at http://www.defence.gov.au/id/maribyrnong/Documents.asp.

Based on the RAP, Defence intends to remediate the site in two stages as follows:
(a) Stage One (Audit Area 1) under an accelerated remediation strategy. The remediation services in respect of Stage One were completed in 2015.
(b) Stage Two (Audit Areas 2 - 6) covers the majority of DSM and includes:
(i) The site of the former Explosives Factory Maribyrnong (EFM);
(ii) The site of the former DSTG establishments; and
(iii) Part of the LEA.

The site includes approximately 505 current buildings, 124 blast mounds, 2 levees, 30.4 km of paths and roads, 5.6 km of tramways and 137.6 km of mapped utilities. The site is undulating with topography ranging from river flats on the northern and western boundaries, which are typically 5 to 10 m AHD, rising to the highest point of the site at Remount Hill at approximately 34 m AHD.

The site is on the Commonwealth Heritage List and is subject to a Heritage Management Plan (GML 2007). It maintains social, cultural and heritage values which must be protected throughout remediation and maintained in accordance with the requirements of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act). At the time of issuing this Invitation to Register Interest, the "remediation services" (for the purposes of the applicant responding to this Invitation to Register Interest) involve contamination remediation, demolition and stabilisation services at DSM with the intent of remediating the site (Audit Areas 2 through 6) to achieve Statement/s of Environmental Audit prior to disposal of the site to Places Victoria and include:
(a) Site establishment and management;
(b) Demolition and stabilisation of buildings and infrastructure;
(c) Construction of an onsite engineered facility;
(d) Waste handling and management;
(e) Removal of waste offsite for disposal or treatment;
(f) Management of hazardous materials including asbestos;
(g) Management and remediation of explosive organic compounds;
(h) Removal of underground services; and
(i) Soil excavation, reuse, treatment and disposal.