Captain Sand Dune
19th Sep 2003, 13:07
THE Defence Materiel Organisation would become an executive agency separate from the Defence Department, with an eight-member advisory board to oversee its operations, under sweeping changes to the way it manages equipment purchases announced by Defence Minister Robert Hill yesterday.
The three-year old DMO, which manages about 250 equipment projects worth $25billion, will get a highly paid chief executive with authority to set salaries and attract project managers from both the private and public sectors.
The advisory board will have half its members drawn from the private sector including the chairman, as well as the Chief of the Defence Force and the secretaries of Defence and Finance departments.
The Government has accepted the main recommendations of the Kinnaird review of defence procurement commissioned late last year which called for a fundamental overhaul of the way Defence manages its new equipment programs. These include the formation of a new group in Defence to define all new projects headed by a three-star military officer or civilian equivalent.
The new three-star post would be a five-year appointment and have sole responsibility for managing Defence's $50 billion capability plan. Senator Hill said while the DMO had improved its project management performance in recent years, the Government was committed to making further fundamental reforms to Defence's acquisition process.
He said the DMO restructuring would not immediately affect staffing levels in the 8000-staff organisation, with future staff ceilings a matter for the new chief executive.
The Kinnaird review, led by Adelaide industrialist Malcolm Kinnaird, concluded that there needed to be "more rapid and more fundamental" change in reshaping the structures and organisational culture of the DMO.
"To do otherwise will add more risk to what is already a difficult and high-risk international environment for the nation," the review team said.
"Continuing delays in the delivery of major defence equipment mean that the defence force has failed to receive the capabilities it expects."
A worldwide search will begin immediately for a new DMO chief to succeed Mick Roche, who retired last month.
Labor's defence spokesman, Chris Evans, said the Government's acceptance of the Kinnaird review was an admission of failure.
Pros: It’s about time that something was done to streamline the ADF procurement system. At present it’s nothing short of a (bad) joke, eg Collins subs, Sea Sprite helos.:ugh:
Cons: …”highly paid chief executive”……I can just imagine the senior ADF officers approaching retirement that would clamour for a chance at this opportunity to further feather their nests. The ADF procurement system may be improved, but at what cost? And if there’s another “Collins Class” stuff up – well the CEO responsible would be sacked and walk away with a sizeable proportion of our Defence budget.:hmm:
The three-year old DMO, which manages about 250 equipment projects worth $25billion, will get a highly paid chief executive with authority to set salaries and attract project managers from both the private and public sectors.
The advisory board will have half its members drawn from the private sector including the chairman, as well as the Chief of the Defence Force and the secretaries of Defence and Finance departments.
The Government has accepted the main recommendations of the Kinnaird review of defence procurement commissioned late last year which called for a fundamental overhaul of the way Defence manages its new equipment programs. These include the formation of a new group in Defence to define all new projects headed by a three-star military officer or civilian equivalent.
The new three-star post would be a five-year appointment and have sole responsibility for managing Defence's $50 billion capability plan. Senator Hill said while the DMO had improved its project management performance in recent years, the Government was committed to making further fundamental reforms to Defence's acquisition process.
He said the DMO restructuring would not immediately affect staffing levels in the 8000-staff organisation, with future staff ceilings a matter for the new chief executive.
The Kinnaird review, led by Adelaide industrialist Malcolm Kinnaird, concluded that there needed to be "more rapid and more fundamental" change in reshaping the structures and organisational culture of the DMO.
"To do otherwise will add more risk to what is already a difficult and high-risk international environment for the nation," the review team said.
"Continuing delays in the delivery of major defence equipment mean that the defence force has failed to receive the capabilities it expects."
A worldwide search will begin immediately for a new DMO chief to succeed Mick Roche, who retired last month.
Labor's defence spokesman, Chris Evans, said the Government's acceptance of the Kinnaird review was an admission of failure.
Pros: It’s about time that something was done to streamline the ADF procurement system. At present it’s nothing short of a (bad) joke, eg Collins subs, Sea Sprite helos.:ugh:
Cons: …”highly paid chief executive”……I can just imagine the senior ADF officers approaching retirement that would clamour for a chance at this opportunity to further feather their nests. The ADF procurement system may be improved, but at what cost? And if there’s another “Collins Class” stuff up – well the CEO responsible would be sacked and walk away with a sizeable proportion of our Defence budget.:hmm: