The Bureau of Meteorology’s weather observation network spans as far as Antarctica. Photo: Bureau of Meteorology.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has agreed to all four recommendations from the Auditor-General to better manage assets in its observation network.
In 2020-2021, the government agreed to increase funding to ensure the financial sustainability of the BOM; part of this agreement was asset maintenance in line with industry best practice.
The assets in question are those used by the BOM across Australia and its territories, including parts of Antarctica. The equipment includes 15,000 technological items and devices, providing services for weather, water, climate and ocean services vital to industry, governments, community, agriculture, aviation and defence.
These and other systems and supporting items comprise 28 per cent of the bureau’s $1.3 billion in non-financial assets.
The BOM’s observation network reaches as far as Antarctica and includes terrestrial and oceanic instruments. Image: Bureau of Meteorology.
The audit was conducted to inform the government about the BOM’s system of asset management in its observation network, specifically regarding the proper care taken regarding instruments that are often expensive to procure and geographically disparate.
The Auditor-General has made four recommendations based on the report’s findings that the BOM has been partly effective in important areas relating to asset management and maintenance.
The bureau has been instating a framework for asset management and support structures since 2020, but the process is ongoing.
The report acknowledges that bureau services are still provided but that vital areas such as medium to long-term financial plans for strategic goals and the establishment of more extensive reporting arrangements need improvement.
The report found that the bureau was partly effective in the following fields:
- Managing assets in its observation network
- Frameworks and systems governing asset management
- Bureau systems monitoring asset lifecycle
- Measuring, reporting and monitoring of assets.
The audit provided the following recommendations about the asset management framework:
- The completion of asset management processes
- Completion of training pathways
- Fully implementing monitoring and reporting
- Updating plans, policies and procedures.
The bureau has agreed to all the recommendations.
