Palm Island Walking Trails & Tourism Activation Project - Design & Construct

Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council (Council) is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced Design & Construct (D&C) Contractor to undertake the design and construction of the Palm Island Walking Trails & Tourism Activation Project.

The Project comprises the delivery of the walking trails, Cultural Welcome Precinct, eco accommodation / tourism accommodation base and associated tourism-supporting infrastructure described in Part B – Specification, including all investigations, surveys, assessments, design, approvals, construction, testing, commissioning, documentation and handover required to deliver the Works.

The procurement is an implementation procurement based on the Project outcomes and recommendations identified in Part B. Tenderers are required to demonstrate the capability, capacity and methodology necessary to deliver the Works within Palm Island's remote-island, cultural, environmental and logistical context and achieve Practical Completion by 31 December 2027.

Suitably qualified Tenderers with proven capability, capacity, and sound financial and technical background to deliver the Specification outlined in this Invitation to Tender are invited to participate in this Invitation to Tender process.

Background information / Compatibility requirements

The Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council is a local government area in Queensland, established to manage the Palm Island group and provide services to its community. The Council is a special local government area that was established under a Deed of Grant in Trust on 27 October 1986. The Council was previously known as the Palm Island Community Council, which had limited powers compared to its current governance structure.

The Council is responsible for local governance and community services including parks and gardens, roads, the library, cemeteries, waste management, animal and pest control, water and sewerage and the Palm Island Airport, and ensuring the needs of the Aboriginal community are met.

Desired Outcomes ('Nice to haves', Conditions & Warranties, SLA's, Project benefits): Council seeks to deliver a high-quality, culturally grounded, environmentally sensitive and operationally sustainable walking trail and tourism infrastructure network that:

(a) delivers the trail and tourism infrastructure outcomes identified through the recommendations contained in the Palm Island Walking Trails – Engagement Outcomes Report: Recommendations (SALT, June 2026), which Council supported as the basis for further planning and development of the Project;

(b) provides safe, durable and low-impact walking experiences suited to Palm Island's tropical, coastal and remote-island conditions;

(c) protects cultural heritage, natural values and community interests and enables Palm Island people to tell Palm Island stories under appropriate cultural authority;

(d) supports both community use and a high-quality guided visitor experience;

(e) integrates the physical infrastructure with Council's separately delivered Indigenous and Arts Installation Precinct (IAIP) project and the emerging Joint Operating Model for tourism;

(f) maximises appropriate participation, employment, training and capability development for Rangers, Palm Island residents and local businesses;

(g) is designed for practical inspection, maintenance and whole-of-life management in a remote environment; and

(h) achieves construction completion no later than 31 December 2027.

Updates made to this request:

Tenderers are advised of the following update to the Invitation to Tender.

A remote Tender Information Session will be held via Microsoft Teams as follows:

Date: Thursday, 10 September 2026

Time: 1:00 pm AEST

Format: Microsoft Teams

Join: Microsoft Teams Meeting

Meeting ID: 446 493 185 356 531

Passcode: qf2vb3ru

The session will provide Tenderers with an opportunity to receive an overview of the procurement and raise general questions regarding the tender requirements.

The date and arrangements for the Palm Island site visit will be determined following the Information Session and advised to Tenderers separately through VendorPanel.

All other requirements of the Invitation to Tender remain unchanged.

Tenderers are advised that Council has scheduled an optional site visit as follows:

Date: Thursday, 24 September 2026

Time: 9:30 am to approximately 2:30 pm

Attendance: Optional

The site visit will provide prospective Tenderers with an opportunity to inspect the planned walking trail alignments and associated project areas and gain a better understanding of site conditions, access, logistics and the broader project context.

The visit is expected to run from approximately 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, with a lunch break included in the program.

Attendance is not mandatory and Tenderers who do not attend will not be disadvantaged in the evaluation process.

Any information provided during the site visit that materially clarifies or affects the Invitation to Tender will be communicated to all prospective Tenderers through VendorPanel. Formal tender queries must continue to be submitted through VendorPanel.

All other requirements of the Invitation to Tender remain unchanged.

Please note: The following addenda have been recently added.

1. Added: (Addendum) Palm Island Walking Trail Alignments.kmz

2. Added: (Addendum) PI Walking Trail Alignments.jpg

Please consider these addenda when responding.

Tenderers are advised that Council is providing additional GPS data files for the proposed walking trail alignments as supplementary reference information to the Invitation to Tender.

The GPS data is provided to assist Tenderers in understanding the indicative locations, alignments and lengths of the proposed trails and in preparing their Tender Responses.

The GPS information represents preliminary/reference alignment information only and is to be read in conjunction with the Invitation to Tender documentation, including the Palm Island Walking Trails – Engagement Outcomes Report: Recommendations and the Palm Island Track Network Report.

Consistent with Part B – Specification, the successful D&C Contractor will remain responsible for verifying the reference information and site conditions, ground-truthing and refining the alignments, undertaking the investigations and surveys required for design, and confirming the final trail alignments in accordance with the Contract requirements, applicable approvals and cultural and environmental requirements.

Buyer: Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council

Buyer location: 1 Main St, Palm Island, Queensland 4816, Australia

VendorPanel reference: VP523582

Buyer's reference: PIASC.2627.WTRL01

Opens: Tuesday 01 September 2026 (E. Australia Standard Time)

Closes: Friday 30 October 2026 02:00 PM (E. Australia Standard Time)

Supplier query cut-off: Friday 30 October 2026 02:00 PM (E. Australia Standard Time)

Expected decision: Friday 13 November 2026 (E. Australia Standard Time)

Categories: Construction & Operation; 1: Building Construction Materials & Services; 2: Drainage Services; 3: Excavation Services; 4: Fencing Supplies & Services; 5: Non-destructive Testing; 6: Other Civil Construction Materials & Services; 7: Track & Trail Construction; Signs & Barriers; 1: Banners & Flags; 2: Council Signage; 3: Digital Signage; 4: Guardrails; 5: Other Signage & Sign Writing; 6: Road Signs; 7: Safety Signs Regions of service: Australian Capital Territory; 1: ACT (all other areas); New South Wales; 1: Sydney; Northern Territory; 1: Darwin; Queensland; 1: Brisbane; 2: Gold Coast; 3: Northern; 4: Sunshine Coast; South Australia; 1: Adelaide; Tasmania; 1: Greater Hobart; Victoria; 1: Melbourne; All Regions of Service locations are within Australia.

Tender documents: 27

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