A performance audit of the capability of the Department of Defence to support and manage the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet of ANZAC Class frigates has found it to be failing.
In his report ANZAC Class Frigates — Sustainment, Auditor-General, Grant Hehir said the Navy operated eight of the frigates which were commissioned between 1996 and 2006 and were halfway through their service life.
“While the ANZAC Class frigates are meeting Navy’s current capability requirements and continue to be deployed on operations in Australian, Middle Eastern and Asia-Pacific waters, Defence has been aware since at least 2012 that sustainment arrangements have not kept pace with higher than expected operational usage,” Mr Hehir said.
“Further, Defence cannot demonstrate the efficiency or outcomes of its sustainment arrangements, as the necessary performance information has not been captured.”
He said Defence would need to address relevant shortcomings in its sustainment arrangements to meet the requirement that the ships remain in service for an extra 10 years to 2043, pending the entry into service of the replacement Hunter Class.
“The effectiveness of Defence’s framework for sustaining the ANZAC Class frigates has been reduced because the sustainment plans and budget outlined in the ANZAC Class Product Delivery Schedule in Navy’s Materiel Sustainment Agreement do not align with the frigates’ higher than expected operational use,” the Auditor-General said.
Mr Hehir said that while the performance measures adopted by Defence were relevant, the performance framework was not fully effective because the performance measures were only partially reliable…and not complete.
The audit made five recommendations which Defence agreed, two with qualifications.
The Auditor-General’s 69-page report can be accessed at this PS News link and the audit team was Alex Wilkinson, Megan Beven, Zak Brighton-Knight and Sally Ramsey.
