The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) contract is set to run for two years from 22 March this year. It is a renewal of the original 12-month contract awarded to Blue Star in 2010.

According to Lindsay Warden, panel management, DIAC’s Procurement and Contracts branch: “The contract that was awarded to Blue Star is for various forms, booklets, brochures, leaflets, posters and other printing work required by DIAC.

“Blue Star was contracted to the department through a competitive process in January 2010, via the Centrelink Printing and Production panel. DIAC considered that Blue Star was able to provide the best value for money,” added Warden.

The contract will be managed by Blue Star’s IQ print management (PM) arm, with the bulk of work produced at its production site in Canberra.

Blue Star IQ’s Matt Aitken told ProPrint it was a good example of a government agency preferring to have a direct relationship with a print producer, rather than use an independent PM.

The Federal government announced the ‘Design, Production and Distribution Tender Program’ back in late 2009. The arrangement is overseen by Centrelink.

The strategy was seen as an endorsement for the independent PM model operated by  the likes of Stream Solutions and Ergo, which are both approved PM suppliers. Only companies without equipment were allowed onto this panel.

Blue Star secured a place on the Printing & Production panel but not on the PM panel.

“The DIAC contract is definitely through the Centrelink agency master agreement contract but it is engaging us as a supplier on the print panel. You could not go through the PM panel if you owned equipment,” said Aitken.

He added that DIAC “didn’t want a PM panel member because of the way the government has set it up”.

“There are only brokers there; they wanted a direct print partner.”

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