General Counsel Division was established in July 2005 to assist DMO and Defence in managing commercial, legal and process risk with respect to procurement projects, process integrity, contract formation and contract management consistent with Defence's accountability framework.
To achieve this mission, General Counsel Division provides DMO and Department of Defence personnel with a range of professional services related to contracting and procurement including, legal advice and the coordination of external legal tasking, procurement and procurement policy advice, probity advice, and financial investigation services.
General Counsel Division is also responsible for a number of initiatives relating to the DMO Reform Agenda including the Procurement Improvement Program, development of an Accredited Procurement and Contracting Training Program for Defence personnel, Interim Defence Contract Register Upgrade initiative, development of an intellectual property Register, development of Custodial Service for Defence Contracts, and the investigation of a Defence wide Contract Lifecycle Management System.
The Division manages the Strategic Commercial Legal panel, one of 16 panels through which Defence obtains external legal advice. General Counsel Division business processes have been adapted in keeping with the establishment of this new panel in order to ensure that performance of legal panellists is monitored, that requests for external legal services from DMO and Defence clients are effectively coordinated, and that legal expenditure is accurately reported.
| Type of Legal Expenditure | 2005–06 $m |
|---|---|
| Internal | 2.369 |
| External | 9.091 |
| Total | 11.460 |
Note:
- Trend data is not supplied for 2004–05 as the General Counsel Division of the DMO was not yet formed and the DMO figures were reported in the total amount for Defence.
| Items | 2005–06 $m |
|---|---|
| Salaried legal staff cost | 1.661 |
| General Counsel Division operating costs attributable to legal services | 0.708 |
| Total | 2.369 |
Note:
- Trend data is not supplied for 2004–05 as the General Counsel Division of the DMO was not yet formed and the DMO figures were reported in the total amount for Defence.
Note:
- Trend data is not supplied for 2004–05 as the General Counsel Division of the DMO was not yet formed and the DMO figures were reported in the total amount for Defence.