Defence

Cover story

New leader, new vision

In early December 2006, Nick Warner became the new Secretary of Defence, joining the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) in the leadership diarchy, and ready for the challenges faced at the top of this large and diverse organisation. Alisha Welch reports.

Mr Warner remarked on the warm welcome he had received since he took on the position of Secretary, and looks forward to working with both military and civilian colleagues during what is shaping up to be a full and interesting new year.

He indicated there were a broad range of issues he wished to focus on during his time as Secretary. At the forefront of his priorities is working together with the CDF, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, to improve the advice presented to the Minister, Minister Assisting and the Parliamentary Secretary.

New Secretary Nick Warner.

“I think we need to be better in ensuring that the advice we give to Government as a whole and the Minister is of a uniformly high standard. Along with the CDF I’ve already put in place some changes which will ensure that the level of advice is consistently of a high quality,” he said.

“This is a very good organisation that produces consistently at very high levels for Government,” he said. “But we can do even better, and we should all strive to make providing Government with timely, concise and well crafted advice
our number one priority.”

Mr Warner said he and CDF would also focus on organisational and structural reform.

“The Defence Management Review is well underway and CDF and I have had a number of meetings with Elizabeth Proust and her team to discuss the progress of the review. The recommendations will be announced early this year. I think it is very important for Defence that we take advantage of this review. It provides an opportunity to change some of the practices that may have once served us well, but are not as effective now.

“There are a whole range of areas Ms Proust is looking at, including financial management and IT. She will also look at structural and organisational issues.”

The Secretary said Defence had an excellent reputation both in Australia and internationally, and that this was a result of military and civilian personnel working effectively together to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

“The ADF, at the operational end, is extremely well supported by the rest of the Defence organisation. There are a lot of things that work really well in this Department that ought not to be touched in any way.

“There are of course things, I think, that need to be worked on. My predecessor, Ric Smith, focused a lot on financial management, and much has been done. Significant progress has been made in the last few years. The reforms and remediation activities have made vast improvements that have allowed Defence to gather more robust financial information. This has allowed us to better base our future decisions.

“I think this is going to become increasingly important to us as we move into a potentially more constrained financial environment. I intend to build on the progress already made and ensure that sound financial management is imbedded in Defence’s culture. Very important steps have been made and it is vitally important that we don’t slip back. The immediate focus has to be on improving our business systems and associated processes – continued investment in training our people for the challenges ahead.”

The Secretary said another area he would place his attention was IT.

“I think IT systems are a challenge almost everywhere because of their nature and their rapid evolution.

“From my brief time in Defence, I think we need to stand back and look at the systems objectively. If they need to be redesigned to meet our business and operational needs better, that’s a big job in an organisation of 90,000 people and it’s very costly. So it needs to be done carefully and properly.

“These are the priority areas for the near future and it is important to emphasise that in working on these issues I will continue to work very closely with CDF. It’s a partnership.”

Nick Warner served as the Special Coordinator to the Solomon Islands, oversighting the Regional Assistance Mission in 2003-04.

Mr Warner, formerly the Prime Minister’s Senior Adviser (International) responsible for policy advice across many Defence issues, began his public service career with Defence in 1973 as a Graduate Clerk, spending five years at the Joint Intelligence Organisation (now the Defence Intelligence Organisation).

“It was a different time, different issues were faced – but it really was a good foundation for the many things I have done during my career,” he said. He has since spent much of his career with the Office of National Assessments and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“I have often worked with Defence people over the years, mostly overseas on peace-keeping and peace-making operations in Africa, South-East Asia and the South Pacific, but also in Canberra.”

I asked the Secretary what he viewed as the main challenges facing Defence.

“This is a large and complex organisation,” he said.

“It’s the biggest Government department and if it were a private company it would be one of the top two or three in Australia with regard to size, cost and complexity.

“It will take a while to get across all of the issues, systems and structures.”

Mr Warner said Defence delivered for the Government year on year, month on month and in the most difficult of circumstances.

“Many parts of the organisation work very well, so I am not about changing too much. But improvements can be made and, together with the CDF, we will work to achieve this.”

The Secretary said another of the challenges for him and CDF was ensuring Defence people are the best trained they can be so they can continue to do their jobs to the high standard demanded by Government, and that conditions of service are attractive and competitive.

I asked the Secretary how Defence fitted into the whole of Government framework.

“Over the past seven or eight years the national security side of the public service – the various departments and agencies – work closely on a wide range of tough issues, and I think this now works quite seamlessly. Defence is imbedded in whole of Government decision making, policy formulation and processes. I think this works well.”

Mr Warner said that over the next few months he would be getting out and about to meet Defence personnel, visiting locations in Canberra and in the regions, in order to gain a solid understanding of the way Defence does business and the role of individuals in achieving the Government’s aims.

“I hope to meet as many people as possible so that I can gain first hand understanding of the challenges and achievements of the Department – what works, what needs development. It’s important that we all work together to ensure the ADF and Government continue to be supported during this time of extremely high operational tempo.”

Alisha Welch is Editor, Defence magazine, Corporate Governance and Renewal Branch, ADHQ.

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