ANOTHER TURNBULL IT FAILURE

At senate estimates yesterday it was revealed that a project to upgrade the Australian Apprenticeship Management System (AAMS) has run over time and over budget.

 

The AAMS is the information technology platform that supports the administration and payment systems for apprentices and trainees, and their employers.

 

Inefficiencies with the current system were identified back in 2013. The government initially planned an October 2014 tender process with a roll out of a new system in July 2015.

 

The contract with the selected provider NEC settled on a June 2016 completion date, with a budget of $11.4 million.

 

To date the project has cost $12.9 million with no new system in sight.

 

The Department of Education and Training has ‘suspended’ the project and is paying PwC to undertake a review.

 

This is yet another example of the Turnbull government incompetence and lack of capacity to effectively manage information technology upgrades.

 

Thirteen million dollars later, the Apprentice Support Network is still using paper-based processing and hard copy filing to overcome failings in the old system.

 

It is incumbent upon the government to be open and transparent about the problems, the final expected cost, and when this system will be on line to provide efficient administrative support for apprenticeships and traineeships.