Training programs / Procurement and tenders

For procurement and finance teams: buying practice-based training in a public body

Thresholds, portals and what an RFQ should ask for.

Your questions

Can we buy this without a tender?

The answer turns on expected value and the kind of entity.

A council officer answers an older man's question. A VR training scenario for government and public sector. — A council officer answers across the counter.

A woman in a navy polo shirt wears a visor at a desk in a small remote office, a monitor and keyboard in front of her and red earth and a water tank through the window. — A regional office desk, headset on.

A permits officer reviews a screen with colleagues. A VR training scenario for mining and resources. — A permits team stands with a tablet.

A director waits in a plain meeting room. A first person VR training scenario for government and public sector, seen through the headset. — A director waits across the meeting table.

Commonwealth: the threshold sets the method

The Commonwealth Procurement Rules of 17 November 2025: "for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, other than for procurements of construction services, the procurement threshold is $125,000". The value counted is "the maximum value of the proposed contract, including options, extensions, renewals or other mechanisms"; at or above the threshold, unless an Appendix A exemption applies, the Division 2 rules must also be followed.

That maximum value includes "all forms of remuneration" and "any taxes or charges"; a procurement run in multiple parts counts "the maximum value of all of the contracts"; and when the maximum value "cannot be estimated", the procurement "must be treated as being valued above the relevant procurement threshold".

A policy officer practises an explanation at the meeting room lectern. — A policy officer speaks at a lectern.

Splitting and standing offers

The same rules: "A procurement must not be divided into separate parts solely for the purpose of avoiding a relevant procurement threshold." Buying from an existing standing offer sits outside Division 2 but "must comply with the rules in Division 1"; establishing a new panel is its own procurement.

A permits officer hears about a home renovation. A VR training scenario for government and public sector. — A permits officer listens across the counter.

New South Wales: registration before the contract

Registration on buy.nsw has been mandatory for suppliers to NSW Government since 1 July 2024. Direction PBD-2023-04 applies above the $150,000 GIPA threshold, exempts "ad-hoc or non-contractual" supply, and tells buyers to "Confirm supplier registration prior to procurement contract execution."

Inside the simulation, a frustrated man leans across a public service counter talking fast, seen from the officer's own position, a translucent panel of choice buttons floating within reach. — A choice panel beside a service counter.

Which portal?

AusTender: Commonwealth opportunities and contracts awarded.
buy.nsw Supplier Hub: New South Wales.
Queensland Government supplier portal: VendorPanel Marketplace and QTenders.
Buying for Victoria.
Tenders WA: Western Australia.
GETS: New Zealand.
Test and Buy Innovation: Digital NSW’s staged pathway.

In the United States

Federal thresholds, and what public buyers asked for

The Federal Acquisition Regulation sets thresholds; solicitations show the questions.

An incident controller waits for a decision. A first person VR training scenario for government and public sector, seen through the headset. — An incident controller beside a choice panel.

Micro-purchase and simplified acquisition

FAR Part 2 definitions: "Micro-purchase threshold means $15,000" and "Simplified acquisition threshold means $350,000", each with listed exceptions.

A caseworker wearing a headset sits at a desk across from a simulated distressed client holding his head. — A caseworker faces a distressed client.

A county RFP for de-escalation training

Williamson County, Texas (2025): "The platform needs to offer realistic scenarios across de-escalation, conflict resolution, active shooter response, and more." Proposals were scored on completeness, product knowledge, responsiveness and price.

A leader practises responding in a conversation beside the office table. — A leader stands beside a boardroom table.

A federal grant that asks for evidence

The Bureau of Justice Assistance VR de-escalation solicitation (2023): "Include a description of the accompanying evidence-based curriculum to be used and the role of the identified academic partner."

Your RFQ

What to ask for when you go to market

Paste these into your request for quote.

A shutdown planner and maintenance supervisor review plans. A VR training scenario for mining and resources. — A planner and supervisor review a tablet.

Scenarios, formats and evidence

Scenarios: written from your own incidents and roles; see scenario and debrief design.
Delivery formats: headset, browser roleplay, facilitated session, partner trainer, each quoted separately; see how we deliver.
Evidence: published results and who measured them.
Debrief: who runs it and what it contains.

A financial counsellor speaks with an older man. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A counsellor and client across a desk.

Data, headsets, evaluation and support

Data handling: where recordings and scores live, who sees them, whether a vendor trains on them; compare how PTR handles data.
Headsets: who supplies, manages and cleans them, and what runs without one.
Evaluation: the measure named up front; see business case and evaluation and how a pilot runs.
Support: preparation for your facilitators and a named contact.

Where practice fits

Programs public bodies buy practice for

Frontline counters, casework and planning conversations.

A planning officer talks with a resident. A VR training scenario for government and public sector. — A planning conversation at a small table.

A staff member wearing a headset sits in a small regional office facing a floating head-and-shoulders presence of a subject-matter expert digital twin, bringing specialist knowledge to a remote team. — A regional officer faces an expert twin.

Reviewers use browser stations side by side. A rapid prototyping scenario for fast builds, from idea to working product. — Reviewers try a browser build together.

Programs & sector pages

Published work

What our published work includes

Labelled by who measured it.

An office desk scenario in the Google DEI training, an overheard conversation involving tokenism. — An office desk scene from the Google scenarios.

Peer reviewed: Google, ACM CHI 2024

A peer-reviewed paper evaluated VR inclusion training led by PTR co-founder Leonie Sanderson and built with Equal Reality, a subsidiary of People Tech Revolution. The 7 trainees who returned the optional survey gave 82% average agreement that it was better than Google’s standard DEI training.

Inside the Mater build: an older patient sits up in a hospital bed, a meal tray across the blanket, curtains drawn beside him. — Inside the Mater build, at a bedside.

Client evaluation: Mater Education

In Mater’s own program evaluation, over 96% of participants wanted more training in VR. The published set carries no cost study and no incident-rate result.

Download the Google research paper PDF Download the Mater case study PDF