The Department of Defence’s management of health services for the Australian Defence Force has been criticised. 

An audit conducted by Auditor-General Grant Hehir has revealed shortcomings in the Department of Defence's management of health service delivery to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), rating it as only “partly effective”. 

The report highlighted several areas where the department failed to ensure the implementation of contracted requirements.

While acknowledging that the Defence had established suitable contract governance arrangements, Auditor-General Hehir said that the execution of these requirements had been inadequate. 

“Defence has not managed the contract to ensure that all stipulated plans are in place, contract change proposals adhere to established processes, contractor reports meet the minimum contractual obligations, invoices are complete, and payments are made based on complete invoices,” he said.

Moreover, weaknesses were identified in Defence's payment control framework, which remained unresolved. 

This deficiency significantly hindered Defence's ability to provide assurance regarding the appropriate use of public resources for which it is accountable.

The audit also revealed that although Defence had incorporated a performance management framework into the contract, its implementation fell short of expectations. 

Specifically, the department had not effectively managed the contract to include the entire range of performance measures.

As a result of the findings, Auditor-General Hehir made four recommendations aimed at ensuring the Department's compliance with the contract, all of which were accepted.

The audit team responsible for this investigation included Joyce Knight, Elizabeth Wedgewood, Georgia Johnston, James Wright, Michael Brown, Dale Todd, Nathan Daley, Qing Xue, Sally Ramsey, and Amy Willmott.

The full report is accessible here.