Defence

Coordination and Public Affairs

Management in Defence: making it work

With the aim of enhancing Defence's organisational efficiency, business processes and information management systems, the Minister for Defence, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, recently announced the appointment of two new bodies, the Defence Management Review (DMR) and the Defence Business Improvement Board (DBIB). Both seek to draw on best practice experience and import those ideas into Defence. Martin Dunn explains.

The Defence Management Review team (L-R): Mr John Azarias, Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie RAN (Retd), Ms Elizabeth Proust and Dr Alan Kallir.
Photo by Caroline Cooper-Sande

Defence Management Review

You've seen the DEFGRAMS and media releases, you might have seen the Secretariat or know colleagues who've been seconded there. So who are they, what does it mean to Defence and why is it important?

The DMR will provide an intensive and holistic examination of Defence decision-making and business processes and the information management systems that support them. It will report directly to the Minister. Thus far, the DMR has embarked on an intensive round of meetings with senior managers within Defence to identify the key issues facing the organisation.

Both the Secretary of Defence, Mr Ric Smith, and Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Angus Houston, said the DMR team will bring a wealth of experience that will only serve to strengthen Defence's management practices.

"I look forward to seeing the outcomes of this review," ACM Houston said.

Mr Smith said that with the high operational tempo of recent years, "it is critical that we continually monitor the way in which our organisation operates to ensure we fulfil our responsibilities in serving the government of the day and defending Australia and its national interests."

Consisting of four external members, the DMR is chaired by Ms Elizabeth Proust who has served in senior roles in the ANZ Bank, as Secretary to the Victorian Premier's Department and CEO of Melbourne City. The other members include former Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie RAN (Retd), Mr John Azarias, senior partner with Deloitte Australia and Dr Alan Kallir, Director of Insight Partners.

Ms Proust said the DMR team has been active for about two months and, in that time, has consulted widely with Defence leaders, Ministers and other stakeholders with a strong interest in Defence and its business.

"We have been impressed by the passion and commitment of the people in the broader Defence community," Ms Proust said.

"Defence is a large and complex enterprise and it is clear to the review team that, in recent years, Defence has been busier than it has been for several decades.

"Operational commitments are high and the effort to provide support to operations extends across many areas of Defence. At the same time, the demands for better governance and accountability are increasing.

"These factors combined are being felt in workload, turnover of personnel in key roles, as well as staffing pressures."

Ms Proust said Defence has an important place in the Australian community and this means the public spotlight will fall on Defence more frequently.

"It is clear that, in the past, Defence has fallen short in some areas and I see this as an opportunity to review whether the management processes and structures are the best ones to enable people in Defence to deliver all that is asked of them," she said.

"I see this review as an important opportunity to take stock of the significant changes Defence has implemented in the last decade, to recognise the hard work of Defence people and offer a practical roadmap for enhanced Defence management for the future."

Defence Business Improvement Board

The DBIB has its origins in the organisational restructure that created the Australian Defence Headquarters and Defence Support Group on 1 July this year. The Secretary and CDF proposed the DBIB as a mechanism for providing continuous improvement.

The DBIB comprises both external and internal members. It will be chaired by Mr Barry Cusack, Chairman of Oxiana Ltd. The other external members are Mr Jock Murray, Director of Investa, Ms Vanessa Fanning, member of the International Air Services Commission and Mr Les Cupper, Group Executive People Services at the Commonwealth Bank. The Defence members are Chief Finance Officer, Mr Phillip Prior, Deputy Secretary Defence Support, Mr Martin Bowles, Chief Information Officer, Air Vice Marshal John Monaghan and Commander Joint Logistics, Air Vice Marshal Chris Spence.

Mr Cusack said that, like any organisation, Defence sometimes struggles to improve in order to meet budgetary constraints, to provide challenge and reward to its people to attract and retain high achieving employees and to increase its utilisation of assets to ensure capital efficiency.

"When I look at Defence as an organisation, I see one that has met its owner's increasing and more diverse requirements for offshore deployments and internal capabilities," Mr Cusack said.

"Through the DBIB we hope to provide an external perspective on how business might tackle these issues and see whether our experience has relevance and value to the improvement initiatives taking place within Defence.

"There are obvious differences; just-in time versus just-in case; appetite for risk; degrees of public scrutiny, for example. How these impact on organisational and individual initiative are important considerations in addressing barriers to improvement."

The DBIB has had three initial meetings where it received briefings on Defence business processes and started to scope out the initial program of work. It will meet once more this year and then about eight times per year thereafter.

All personnel within Defence have a very critical role to play in improving how Defence does business: whether you are military or civilian, whether you are deployed or at your home base. For further information on how the DMR and DBIB will affect you, visit http://intranet.defence.gov.au/cpa/manual/dmr.htm.

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