Serving Australia: control and administration of the Department of Defence
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute today released a new report, Serving Australia: control and administration of the Department of Defence.
Serving Australia contains a detailed examination of the control and administration of Defence. Topics covered include: civil–military relations, Defence’s structure and processes, accountability and governance, transparency and oversight, and Defence reform.
In releasing the report, its author Mark Thomson said:
“In recent times, the Department of Defence has come under close scrutiny due to a range of problems. Issues have included faltering multi-billion dollar acquisition projects, uncertain financial management, and an inability to maintain current capabilities such as the Collins-class submarines and the amphibious fleet. Serving Australia is an attempt to understand the root causes of such problems and identify solutions.”
“Defence is a sprawling and complex organisation whose job is made more difficult by dispersed accountability. In many cases, no single person is responsible for ensuring that critical military capabilities are ready for action. As a result, things fall through the gaps.”
The report makes four recommendations:
• Devolve greater authority and accountability to the Army, Navy and Air Force – and hold them to account for results.
• Strengthen central strategic control so that the Secretary and Chief of the Defence Force can more effectively administer the department. At present, Defence is run like a federation; it needs a dedicated headquarters to allocate resources and manage performance.
• Re-establish contestability within Defence, especially in the critical area of capability development planning. The billions of dollars being invested in new equipment should be subject to independent examination by civilian analysts.
• Increase transparency and strengthen external scrutiny. With so much taxpayer’s money involved and the nation’s defence at stake, there should be much greater transparency of Defence’s spending and performance.