An audit of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Veteran Centric Reform (VCR) program has found its planning and management to be largely effective.
According to Auditor-General Grant Hehir, the VCR is the most comprehensive set of reforms undertaken by the DVA in decades.
Mr Hehir said it aimed to significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of veterans’ services.
He noted that the DVA had been provided funding in the 2016-17 Budget to begin planning to significantly improve its provision of services.
“The Department’s original planning envisaged six years of reform. The VCR is currently in its fourth year of implementation,” Mr Hehir said.
“This report is therefore a point-in-time assessment of DVA’s implementation of the program, and does not conclude on whether the Government’s full objectives for reform are likely to be achieved.”
He said that while the implementation of the reforms had been largely effective, greater attention to possible systemic issues affecting performance was needed.
“Limitations in DVA’s project management, and the monitoring and evaluation of benefits, present risks to the VCR program being effectively implemented on time, on budget and to the Government’s objectives,” the Auditor-General said.
He made four recommendations aimed at strengthening business cases, processes for addressing programs under-performance, the use of risk processes, and benefits reporting.
The DVA agreed to all four recommendations.
The Auditor-general’s full report can be accessed at this PS News link with the 89-page printed version at this link.
The audit team was Judy Lachele, Cristiana Linthwaite-Gibbins, Jess Kanikula, Cherise Reed, and Alex Wilkinson.
