Page 4 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2020

4 EDITORIAL
OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
COLUMN A AND COLUMN B
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
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WHEN looking at a problem, part of the so- lution process is looking at what caused it in the first place. How did we get here? Why did we get here? How do we not get here again? In many larger organisa- tions, identifying a single point of failure in people or policy is almost impossible. There are so many cooks in the kitchen it is difficult to say.
The finger pointing becomes even worse when committees are involved. I do love the saying that if a horse was designed by a committee a camel is the
It took another 12 months for the im- plementation to really get underway; so three years of implementation and bed down time.
Organisational change takes 5-7 years to really filter through an organisation in a meaningful way. We’re barely halfway through that cycle and more reforms are on the cards with the Minister’s Five Pil- lars approach.
The reform cycle is at it again before the effects of last implementation can really be felt. But it’s the second of the Five Pil- lars that interest me most.
Minister Price mentioned at her speech to the Defence Teaming Centre’s virtual conference last month that only one inde- pendent AIC audit would have to be con- ducted for everyone in Defence and Indus- try to ‘get the idea’. I have my doubts about that optimism.
The details of how and who will con- duct these independent audits are still be- ing worked. But I wonder why the obvious question has not been asked at this point; what about the ANAO? They are perfect for the job. They pull no punches in their reports and have experience in the area.
But will they, or anyone for that mat- ter, be able to access all the information they need in industry in order to complete a worthwhile audit? One only has to look at the ANAO report into Hawkei and how the company involved approached govern- ment to have parts redacted for commer- cial reasons. A warts and all look at any major program is going to make at least one organisation look worse for wear. And then an audit is looking back at decisions already made. What are the consequences for not doing well on an audit?
What we’re talking about at the end of the day is behaviours and people. You can have all the amazing policy you want but unless people are willing to abide by and work within the framework they are given with the intent of the policy at the fore- front, it’s all words on paper.
The solution in this space is a little from column A (people) and a little column B (policy) plus time. ■
“ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE TAKES 5-7 YEARS TO REALLY FILTER THROUGH AN ORGANISATION IN A MEANINGFUL WAY”
result. If you were after a camel, great. If you were after a horse, perhaps not so much. This thought never failed to make me smile whenever I saw the Land 121 Project Overlander logoofacamel... but I digress.
Defence has once again entered a pe- riod of reform. Out- lined by Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price last month, the push aims
to streamline the work that the First Prin- ciples Review (FPR) began under her Five Pillars approach:
1. A new and enhanced Australian In-
dustry Capability (AIC) contractual
framework
2. An independent AIC Plan Audit Pro-
gram
3. Commonwealth Procurement Rules
(CPR) guidelines update
4. Centre for Defence Industry Capability
(CDIC) Review and its implementation
5. Australian Standard for Defence Con-
tracting (ASDEFCON) Review
All of these elements are under review/
development or have completed their re- views are now developing their implemen-
tation strategies.
It’s been five years since the FPR was
released, ironically on April Fools Day.