Page 4 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec19-Jan20

4 EDITORIAL
DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
THE BIG ISSUES
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
www.australiandefence.com.au
MANAGING EDITOR: Katherine Ziesing Email: katherineziesing@yaffa.com.au Tel: (02) 6203 9535 Mob: 0419 014 308. Fax: (02) 6232 4738
DEPUTY EDITOR: Nigel Pittaway Email: cnpittaway@bigpond.com Tel 03 5428 7875
ONLINE EDITOR: Ewen Levick Email: ewenlevick@yaffa.com.au
Tel (02) 9213 8249 Mob. 0447 961 544
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT – SYDNEY: Julian Kerr Email: jhrhkerr@bigpond.net.au Tel: (02) 02 9960 4054 Mob: 0418 635 823
BRISBANE OFFICE
PO Box 9165, Wynnum Plaza, QLD 4178 AUSTRALIA
Tel: (07) 3348 6966 International: Tel: 61-7-3348 6966 Fax: 61-7-3348 6511
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Kylie Leonard Email: kylieleonard@yaffa.com.au
BOOKS EDITOR: Peter Masters Email: petermasters@yaffa.com.au
NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER: David Jones
Tel: (07) 3348 6966 Mob: 0412 188 100 Email: davidjones@yaffa.com.au
SUBSCRIPTIONS GREATMAGAZINES.COM.AU
CALL 1800 807 760
EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS@YAFFA.COM.AU
KEEN eyed ADM readers will notice a slight change in our look this month; welcome to the updated ADM look and feel. The same content in terms of high-quality journalism, a commu- nication bridge between Defence and Indus- try, with a fresh look across print and digital.
ADM’s annual Top 40 Defence Contrac- tors and Top 20 SME 2019 survey is also in your hands. It makes for a fascinating snapshot of Australian Defence industry.
Welcome to 2020. However, I would like to focus on a few issues that shaped 2019 and how they will continue to affect the Defence community in the coming year.
The first is that of workforce. As this month’s From the Source interviewee Minister for De- fence Industry Melissa Price points out, we have so many jobs on offer in an exciting space,
ery six months as programs hit milestones, were rescoped or had budget changes.
How are we as a community meant to plan when a Fundamental Input to Capability is left in the dark? As an SME, how are you meant to keep track of everything on Aus- tender, industry groups, networking bodies, environmental working groups, adjacent in- dustry opportunities when you have a small team that still needs to undertake core busi- ness? Primes would also benefit from this ap- proach as they make their own businesses cases to their parent companies overseas.
As Minister Price points out in her inter- view this month, the Force Structure Re- view is at a critical point and this will have a significant effect on the IIP. I can only hope that one of the significant side effects is a public update to this important plan- ning tool. Further detail when it comes to program numbers and budgets would also be helpful as the granularity of information provided in the previous iterations of the old Defence Capability Plans is sorely lacking.
Finally, the tension between the Depart- ment, Primes and SMEs as to workshare and engagement reached a peak this year. The two biggest programs in the land under the Attack class submarine and Hunter class frigates have both come under fire from SME advocacy groups. Yet both primes (Na- val Group and BAE Systems) point to record levels of engagement in terms of roadshows, briefings, MoUs, number of companies qualifying for work packages. SMEs howev- er are still not sure how much of the acquisi- tion supply chain (let alone the sustainment effort) will use Australian companies rather than established supply chains in respective home markets of France and the UK.
I think perhaps there is an element of expectation management on both sides. This comes back to the previously high- lighted concept of continuous disclosure.
I can understand why SMEs would like to see more detail around how the Com- monwealth (both the Department as the contracting body and government at a min- isterial level) sees Australian Industry Ca- pability measured and tracked - and what the consequences are for not delivering. ■
but we need to spread the word far more widely about the opportunities in Defence. Preaching to the choir is not going to cut it. True partnership between Defence and our training community needs to be more firmly in place with outreach into schools, TAFEs and universities at an earlier and deeper level.
The second is that of a fit for purpose ICT environment within the department. So much
Australia
New Zealand Asia
Rest Of World
Via air mail 1 Year
1 Year
1 Year
1 Year
$A165.00 $A185.00 $A220.00 $A280.00
“HOWAREWEASA COMMUNITY MEANT TO PLAN WHEN A FUNDAMENTAL INPUT TO CAPABILITY IS LEFT IN THE DARK?”
MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO Subscription Department, Australian Defence Magazine GPO Box 606 Sydney NSW 2001 10% discount for subscription agents
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Tracy Yaffa PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Matthew Gunn ART DIRECTOR: Ana Heraud STUDIO MANAGER: Lauren Esdaile DESIGNER: Maria Alegro MARKETING MANAGER: Lucy Yaffa
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION: John Viskovich Tel: (02) 9213 8215 Email: johnviskovich@yaffa.com.au
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MAGAZINE (ADM) is published in the third week of each month by Yaffa Media Pty Ltd
ACN 002 699 354.
17-21 Bellevue Street Surry Hills NSW 2010, Tel: (02) 9281 2333 Fax: (02) 9281 2750
Australian Defence Magazine also publishes the weekly newsletter Defence Week Premium and the Directory of Defence Suppliers every six months.
Copyright ©2020
All material appearing in ADM is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without permission in writing from the publisher. The publishers accept sole responsibility for the contents of this publication, which may in no way be taken to represent the views of the Department of Defence, the Australian Defence Force or any other agency of the Commonwealth of Australia.
of the fifth-generation force relies on a strong foundation. ICT programs across the board have a tradition of being behind schedule, over budget and not delivering to scope; this is a tradition that must be broken if we are to deliver the outcomes we need.
Thirdly, Defence and Industry would both benefit from a culture of continuous disclo- sure when it comes to program management across the capability life cycle. It has been a hobby horse of mine for four years now about the depth of information available to the public around the Integrated Invest- ment Program (IIP). This was a document that was meant to be living in every sense; it would be available online and updated ev-