Australia's Science Forum

I am not too sure if this is correct, but being retired I have been told, DoE schools can only order from one company, I would like to hear from you all, regarding this.

Is this what you are referring to??? Published in SchoolBiz last week


OfficeMax Australia purchased by Platinum Equity

Platinum Equity has recently purchased OfficeMax Australia. The transaction follows Platinum Equity’s acquisition of Staples, now known as Winc, in 2017.
The Department of Education is working closely with the suppliers to understand the details of the purchase and how they may affect the department’s contracts.
At this stage, it is business as usual for both Office Max and Winc, and we will communicate any changes that may affect you as the acquisition progresses.

Thank you Prima, its on again it seems.

How can that be possible for science to get all they need from officemax? I don't even order anything from officemax! Do they sell chemicals? (private school here)

Yes officemax does sell chemicals, but DoE are not allow to shop around for the cheapest or better priced items. It is madness at its best, pay full price for bicarbonate, use to be able to buy it from shops much much cheaper.

I'm DoE and I order from different suppliers. I buy from Serrata, Scientrific and Westlab mostly. Generally only use Office Max for stationery type things! Haven't been told anything different, so until I am I will continue doing what I've been doing. I also buy bicarb etc from woollies....much cheaper!

I"m DoE and I order from whichever supplier I choose. I am encouraged to shop around, and I have a card linked to the school Coles account to purchase those odds & ends we always seem to need.

I do the same, remlap12 & melsid, although I wish I had a Woolies/Coles account I could use.

DoE School
I can order from all the suppliers we used to but are encouraged to use "procurements" on the Portal .
Incidentally I tried this a few weeks ago when looking for Safety goggles . Same ones from Serrata at around $5 a pair were available from Procurements supplier ( can't remember which one now ) for $1.85 a pair .

We still have a petty cash available $20 max which means I can still nick round ot the super market and get a stick of Celery etc just like we used to. Some schools have canned petty cash . I think it depends on the office staff . All dealing with LMBR but some seem able to cope with it better than others .

So true BIg mack LMBR SAP it all depends on the office staff, or should I say the head.

I wish I had access to a Woolies or Coles card too!!
We don't have our own petty cash anymore, but can get reimbursed from the office petty cash.
If my teachers were organised I could add what we need to the food tech order from Woolies..........but that's not going to happen any time soon!!

DoE school. I order from serrata, westlab etc all the time trying to find the best bargain. I order through the home ec assistant when I need anything from woolies. Got burnt over putting my hand in my pocket as we don't get reimbursed, so if the teachers need anything in a hurry, they either buy it themselves or wait for a delivery. Which, on that subject, never seems to be what I ordered. Woolies substitute for items they don't have in stock but obviously they don't see that some products are not any where near the same. In fact it leaves me gobsmacked at times. My rant is over. Thank you for reading.

Is this still the case??