Inside DMO

On 1 July 2005 the DMO was established as a prescribed agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. While the DMO remains inextricably linked to Defence with regard to provision of equipment for the ADF, it is now required to account directly to the Minister for Defence on its financial management.

The Chief Finance Officer Division is responsible for providing the DMO financial management policy and procedure framework that meets statutory requirements and enables DMO to move to a business-like environment with regard to all aspects of accounting and financial management. The Division provides the central financial controller function for DMO and provides financial management services to all DMO Divisions.

Finance and Business Services Branch

Finance and Business Services Branch is responsible for the management of financial aspects of the relationship between DMO and Defence providing a range of functions and services in support of DMO Divisions, including the smooth operation of Finance Division. Key activities include:

• providing financial management advice to the Domain Divisions, ie Aerospace, Helicopter, Land, Maritime, Electronic and Weapon Systems and Explosive Ordnance;
• professionalising the finance function;
• assisting Chief Finance Officer DMO with divisional change management, and
• support to the Defence Procurement Advisory Board.

Defence Asset and Inventory Management Branch

A part of Defence Materiel Organisation's Corporate Group, the Defence Asset and Inventory Management Branch (DAIMB) is responsible for providing integrated financial accounting and logistics support services to DMO Divisions and Defence - essentially DAIMB is the link between the finance and logistics domains. These services support in-use specialised military equipment, assets under construction and inventory valued at $37 billion (as at 30/6/07), representing ~65% of Defence's total assets and ~41% of the Australian Government's non-financial assets. Key activities include:

• Oversight of the financial management and reporting of both in-use assets and assets under construction;
• Managing key asset accounting activities including capitalisations, useful life reviews, impairment assessments, componentisation, inspection cost analysis and provisioning for decommissioning costs;
• Managing interfaces between Defence logistics and financial systems;
• Managing the Materiel Compliance and Assurance Framework and associated programs operating throughout DMO to support the Defence Inventory Remediation Strategy;
• Managing reform within DMO in a number of key logistics/finance areas including logistics process improvement, pricing and disposals;
• Providing codification services to the acquirers, sustainers and logistic managers of Defence assets and inventory; and
• Providing a centre of expertise in the disposal of Defence assets and inventory.

Budgets and Treasury Branch

Budgets and Treasury Branch provides financial services in support of DMO Divisions. Key activities include:

• preparing DMO’s budget and input into statutory reports including the Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements and Annual Report;
• managing the programming requirements of the DMO Acquisition and Sustainment Programs;
• managing DMO treasury and banking activities;
• reporting of in-year DMO budget performance;
• administration for DMO’s budgeting and reporting system;
• liaison with Defence and Department of Finance and Administration on funding matters;
• over-sighting the DMO agency business model;
• over-sighting the agency agreement framework and associated policy; and
• developing and operating costing tools and procedures.

Financial Reporting and Policy Branch

Financial Reporting Branch is responsible for DMO’s financial statements, financial policy and practices and financial systems oversight. Key activities include:

• production of the DMO financial statements;
• reviewing and reporting on DMO audit remediation activity;
• developing and providing advice to DMO on accounting policy and financial procedures, including arrangements for adopting Australian Equivalent International Financial Reporting Standards;
• coordinating input to finance-related information system developments; and
• developing strategies for financial information management.