Just two bidders are in the race for the contract,which is expected to require at least $1 billion in investment – one helmed by Scott Briggs,Liberal Party heavyweight and friend to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and former colleague of Immigration Minister David Coleman,and another joint bid from Australia Post and Accenture.
Mr Briggs runs Pacific Blue Capital,which holds 19 per cent of the Australian Visa Processing Consortium,along with Qantas Ventures,PwC and Ellerston Capital.
The bidders will be required to develop a"global digital platform"to process applications for temporary Australian visas,of which there were 9 million in 2017-18. The contract would cover 10 years,with the number of temporary visas expected to rise to 13 million a year in 2028-29.
While the signed contract would be required to protect the $2 billion that pours into government coffers every year from visa application charges,it would allow the company running the system to recoup a service fee on temporary visas of around $35 per visa.
Based on last financial year's intake,the $35 fee would bring in $315 million,and under the predicted 13 million visa applications to be made in 2028-29,revenue would increase to $455 million a year.
The documents show the government doesn't intend to pay for the new program,and that the only source of revenue for the winning bidder would be from the service fee. The government expects the platform to be operational in the first half of 2021,first to be rolled out with one visa,and extending to other visas progressively.
Responses from the bidders for phase one of the project must be received by February 20 next year,before the April budget and predicted announcement of a federal election in May,meaning the decision could be made before the caretaker period begins.