Energy Saving Requirements in Audit Office Tender

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) have included energy saving in a Request for Tender for IT Hardware for up to 400 notebooks and 100 desktops computers (ATM ID ANAOCM2008/1071, 15-Aug-2008). The detailed tender document includes a requirement to supply details of "Energy Rating" with:
Energy Star Compliant, EPEAT rating or similar, Energy Consumption.
Details of energy consumption in the following states is required: On and Operating
Sleep, Standby, Switched Off but power point on.

But it is not clear if any energy efficiency rating is a mandatory requirement, as with the recent Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) tender . It seems likely o be optional, as with the the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research tender. It seems a waste of the vendor's time for government agencies to require suppliers to specify what energy saving features their equipment has, if they this is not a purchasing requirement.