Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ludwig asked me some questions on the Systems for People program in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship last Thursday, 13 September 2007. I undertook to get back with further information. I now table that information and seek leave to incorporate it in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The response read as follows—

Question to Minister Ellison, on behalf of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, in relation to the Systems for People programme:

Response:

(a)

The establishment of a single point of access to all information held by the department on a client was a key finding from the Palmer report and is a key component of Systems for People.

(b)

The media report does not present the full picture. In October 2006, just four months after the Systems for People programme commenced, an interim client search facility was introduced that provided a single point of access to the department’s four major computer systems. This has been in use by staff with appropriate access to client records since that time. The Client Centric Portal referred to in the article is the long term search facility that has been introduced using new technology through the Systems for People programme. It represents a more advanced search facility covering the full range of departmental systems which is being rolled out progressively to those staff who need access to client records to do their job. The department’s security protocols provide that only staff who have a “need to know” will have access to every single one of our 91 million client records. The timing of the roll out of this facility is on schedule.

(c)

The Government announced the Systems for People programme, valued at $495m over four years, in the May 2006 Budget. IBM was selected as the strategic partner for the programme. The programme is operating to an extremely rapid timeline and has already released a number of improvements to business processes, quality control, decision support and record keeping. It comprises a mix of departmental staff, IBM specialist contractors and other contractors. As was made clear when announced by the Government, the programme runs over four years and is proceeding on time and delivering results.

(d)

Actual expenditure for 2006/07 was $202,356,000. The project will be completed over four years as originally planned.At the end of the reporting year, major improvements to compliance, case management and detention services, through portal releases, were already directly meeting many of the Palmer recommendations. The first changes to visa processing operations have also commenced.Systems for People is making a major contribution to transform departmental business operations consistent with the palmer recommendations.