Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit I present the committee’s report No. 442: Inquiry into the 2012-13 Defence Materiel Organisation Major Projects Report.

Today I table the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit's review of the 2012-13 Defence Materiel Organisation Major Projects Report.

This was the sixth annual Major Projects Report to be produced by the Audit Office and the DMO. This year's report covers 29 projects with a combined budget of over $44 billion.

The committee's aim in reviewing the MPR is to help to maximise transparency and accountability in the Defence acquisition process. The committee has made a range of recommendations directed towards this.

The DMO MPR constitutes the ANAO's review and analysis of the progress of selected major Defence acquisition projects managed by DMO, and aims to consider cost, schedule, and capability performance and to function as a longitudinal analysis of procurement projects over time.

The JCPAA assesses the overall content, accessibility and transparency of the information provided in the MPR, and also reviews and endorses the guidelines that constitute the MPR.

The committee is committed to ensuring the information presented in the Major Projects Report helps to maximise transparency and accountability in the Defence acquisition process for major projects managed by DMO.

Specific areas of focus in the committee's review of this year's report include cost, schedule, and capability performance, and governance and business processes.

Defence major projects are inherently complex. Meeting cost, schedule and capability targets must be considered in this context, particularly for developmental projects.

There are a range of issues affecting the completion of major projects. These include:

The committee acknowledges these various challenges.

The creation of DMO and the evolving improvements in how it operates were a significant step forward for Australia. The MPR is an important element of this progression along with the corresponding parliamentary scrutiny.

The committee's report makes 10 recommendations directed at:

On behalf of the committee, I would like to express my appreciation for the work done by the DMO and the Australian National Audit Office in producing the major projects report each year. I would like to thank the committee secretariat for their assistance in preparing this report. I also thank the witnesses from the DMO and the ANAO for their participation in the committee's review. I commend the report to the House.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

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