DTA’s statement on the implementation of procurement reforms

I’d like to start by acknowledging the important work the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) and the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) conducts. Their efforts in identifying areas of improvement across the Australian Public Service in efficiency, effectiveness, accountable and transparency are crucial to its values. The importance of identifying administrative shortcomings to ensure they are addressed and rectified cannot be understated. 

I’d also like to thank all the staff at the Digital Transformation Agency. Their openness and – most importantly – commitment to change is vital in ensuring the recommendations continue to be ingrained in the way we operate. The deficiencies identified have been addressed, and the DTA is different agency than it was. That is a testament to my staff’s willingness to continue to improve on every element of our internal processes.

Given the scale and responsibilities of our agency, I’m confident we have taken the necessary steps to address the procurement issues raised in the original report. We have updated our processes and will continue to improve them, as reflected in the ANAO’s review of our procurement reforms.

We have rolled out additional training and development for staff. This training is required to ensure our people are effectively supported to meet our obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

Further, all our Senior Executive Service (SES) are completing the Procurement for SES Delegates training session delivered by the Department of Finance. This will further strengthen our senior leaders understanding of the specific responsibilities they hold as delegates through procurement activities, and model behaviour that reflects the key principles underpinning the CPRs.

The DTA has also established a clear requirement that all procurement delegates make activity-specific conflict of interest declarations for each procurement activity.

Further efforts are required to reinforce the foundational work. Although errors in judgement may persist, steps are being taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Progress made so far will also be maintained and enhanced.

Since engaging with the ANAO on this audit, we have already begun reassessing our current risk management systems.

We are developing robust processes for implementation planning, monitoring, independent oversight and closure of audit recommendations. This will include arrangements established to assign risk ratings, implementation timeframes, key actions for implementation, implementation action owner and monitoring and closure requirements.

Though more progress is needed, I am pleased with the DTA’s achievements so far and look forward to collaborating further to maintain excellent advice for the Government’s ongoing digital development.