One of the year's biggest tender opportunities has hit the market with the Office of Access Card issuing its systems integrator request for tender (RFT), part of the AU$1.1 billion health and social services access card.

The aim of the Department of Human Services' project is to replace 17 health and social service cards with one card that contains personal data such as name, address, and concession status on a microchip.

The systems integrator will:

• Implement hardware and software for the customer (citizen) and operating (data centre) systems.
• Develop, distribute and install registration units to register applicants at Medicare, Centrelink and Australia Post offices.
• Develop the integration layer to share data with other agencies, and the software application to be used by network service providers.
• Provide support for its systems for three years.

Tenderers will be evaluated on criteria such as compliance (which includes privacy), capability, experience and past performance, financial viability and corporate capacity, and affordability, according to tender documents released today.

The systems integrator RFT is the first of several in the access card program this year. Others to follow include card issuance and management and network service providers.

While the value of the request for tender has not been made public, it is expected to be a large portion of the $1.1 billion value of the card.

Tenders close on March 1, and the government expects to sign the contract between May and June.