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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 421 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

This approach is also consistent with the Government's purchaser-provider model being implemented under the financial management reform program. A steering committee, comprising a number of agency heads and a CPSU representative, was established to provide guidance to the review team. An interagency management reference group and a CPSU reference group were also established to provide input into the review process. All of the invisible services, the information technology infrastructure, such as voice and data networks, mainframe and mid-range processing, local area network support and desktop computers and their support will be contracted out. Agencies will purchase these services from one contractor or a set of managed contracts. Agencies will, however, retain control over their own business applications, such as motor vehicle registrations, designed to assist them to deliver their programs and services. In doing this, they will be freed from the requirement to plan and manage infrastructure matters. Agencies will test the market for providers for their business applications once their requirements have been determined.

The Government has looked at what has been done elsewhere - for example, in Victoria and South Australia - and will build on that experience. Mr Moore is quite right in saying that the approach taken in South Australia leaves much to be desired. In South Australia a decision was made that it was necessary for economic growth purposes to create a new industry in the State. This led to a decision to outsource information technology activity in one block so that they could attract a major player to South Australia. The decision to enter into a contract with EDS was made very early in the process to attract the company to South Australia, and was made before detailed specifications or service delivery expectations had been established. This gave rise to a number of difficulties later in the process, and, as Mr Moore rightly said, it meant that there were some very real problems for some small businesses in South Australia.

The ACT, in contrast, will be intending to go through a market testing and contracting process for the express purpose of improving service delivery and increasing value for money. In going through this process the Government is prepared to consider an in-house bid by its own IT staff if they wish to put in such a bid. I understand that there was a meeting on that today at 2.30 pm. I am very happy to say that there does seem to be some real interest in an internal bid. I think that is a real step in the right direction. Obviously, though, that bid will be considered on its own merits. We are intending to make sure that an internal bid gets adequate support from some external source in putting together that bid. If staff choose to do this the Government, without any doubt, will provide them with a consultant to assist them in the preparation of the bid. Any in-house bid, to be successful, will have to be based on a clear commercial contract in line with the new purchaser-provider arrangements being introduced in the financial reform process.

The Government will adhere to the timetable for the contracting process, with expectations of a decision on a successful bidder or bidders by the end of 1996. The contracts will be made on a whole-of-government basis. This will ensure that the economies of scale that have been spoken about earlier are achieved, that the

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