A tender for a volunteer program to support partygoers in Civic has been released by the ACT government, but the organisation which established the program has said previous experience is not considered in the application.
The ACT government opened the tender for the CBR NightCrew last month following a plea from St John Ambulance about its future.
The current contract finishes on June 30 but St John Ambulance was left in limbo after the government said it would invite other organisations to apply to run the service.
St John Ambulance established the CBR NightCrew with the Australian Federal Police in 2017.
But despite the fact St John developed the service the ACT government has previously said they had to test the market due to procurement rules.
St John had been left in a holding pattern after the government had first indicated a tender was needed months ago.
The organisation also provides funding to the program but the government funding is needed to ensure its future.
"We were definitely relieved to see the tender released with only 12 weeks to go before the service was either existent or non-existent," St John Ambulance ACT chief executive Adrian Watts said.
"It was a relief to see that the government must have actually budgeted for this and see it as a priority."
As part of the program, volunteers provide medical support and a safe space for Canberrans on a night out. They operate out of a tent in the city centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
More than 30,000 people have been supported as part of the program since it began.
But prior performance is not taken into consideration as part of the tender's evaluation criteria, Mr Watts said. He feels the organisation could miss out if they don't offer the lowest price.
"In previous experience dealing with government lowest price usually wins, irrespective of quality of care, quality or proof of service," he said.
"I suppose proof of service and actually assessment of performance and prior performance isn't a weighted criteria. It's how well someone can look or be perceived on paper and all of that balanced up with value for money."
Tender documents show the weighting criteria includes organisational capability and capacity, service delivery methodology, training and support, personnel, work health and safety and local industry participation.
Organisational capability and capacity has the highest weighted criteria, making up 25 per cent. This requires a respondent to demonstrate their capability to meet the key requirements.
Respondents also have to show they have the required volunteers to operate the service and training in certain areas include first aid, mental health first aid, cultural diversity training and conflict de-escalation training.
The tender for the CBR NightCrew will close on May 5.
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