Description of Requirement

The Department of Health and Aged Care is exploring options for possibly digitising the process for issuing Human Biosecurity Control Orders (HBCOs) under the Biosecurity Act 2015 (the Act). This includes assessing the technical feasibility and cost of developing a digital solution (App) to replace the current paper-based system.

The objective is to create a more user-friendly and efficient process for Chief human biosecurity officers (CHBOs), human biosecurity officers (HBOs) and biosecurity officers (BOs) to issue HBCOs.

This digital solution is essential for enhancing operational tools and processes that ensure the timely and effective imposition of HBCOs, which are significant measures which can safeguard against risks of Listed Human Diseases (LHD) under the Act. Under section 60 of the Act, a HBCO can be imposed on individuals who may have, or have been exposed to, a LHD, or who have not complied with entry requirements under s44(6). The proposed digital solution aims to support CHBOs, HBOs and BOs to implement HBCOs more efficiently.

Currently, issuing a HBCO involves a lengthy paper form which is administratively burdensome to complete and requires that CHBO, HBOs and BOs must read the form out to the recipient. The goal is to develop a more efficient and user-friendly system that provides clear guidance to CHBOs, HBOs and BOs on when and how to issue HBCOs. It should also be interoperable with the existing Traveller with Illness Checklist app, developed and utilised by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

Objectives

The objective of this scoping activity is to:

• Evaluate the technical feasibility of digitising the HBCOs issuance process
• Ensuring that the privacy issues can be addressed by such a solution, particularly concerning the collection of personal or protected information such as name, address, and medical diagnosis during the issuance process
• Provide cost estimates for developing and implementing a digital HBCOs solution.
• Identify opportunities to integrate the HBCOs digital solution with existing biosecurity systems
• Recommend a path forward for the Department to proceed with the HBCOs digitisation project

Project Scope

The selected Service Provider will be required to conduct a comprehensive scoping exercise to evaluate the technical and operational requirements for digitising the HBCOs issuance process, at the direction of the department, including but not limited to the following:

• Stakeholder consultations with DAFF, CHBOs, HBOs and BOs and other relevant personnel to be organised by the Department
• Analysis of the current HBCOs process and relevant policies and legislation
• Exploration of technical solutions and architectures to digitise the HBCOs process
• Development of a prototype or mock-up to demonstrate the key features and functionality of the proposed digital solution
• Provision of cost estimates and a project roadmap for the full development and implementation of the HBCOs digital solution should the Department decide to proceed with this solution

Estimated start date: Wednesday, 30 April 2025

Initial contract duration: 3 Months - (with Extension Option of up to one month with no additional funding or cost involved)

Extension term: 1 month

Number of extensions: 1

Working arrangements: Remote

Industry briefing: N/A

Additional budget information: The overall budget for this project, inclusive of GST and any travel costs/expenses, is up to $220,000.00. Payment Terms is 20 calendar days for all invoices.