The second annual ADM Defence Support Services Summit was held at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra on September 19, attracting around 180 registered delegates.
Sponsored by Aurecon, Brookfield Johnson Controls, Clayton Utz, Conrad Gargett Riddell, Sitzler and Thiess the major themes of the presentations were those of budget constraint, efficiency, productivity and collaboration.
Chaired by Aurecon’s David Barnes, speakers included a range of representatives from the Defence Support and Reform Group, the wider Defence organisation and a selection of industry subject matter experts.
The first summit, held in Melbourne last August, had been hailed by both Defence and industry as an important forum for the two groups to share information and ideas and, according to Steve Grzeskowiak, Deputy Secretary Defence Support and Reform, was successful from the networking perspective as well as for Defence to engage with industry at a number of levels and over a range of topics.
The second event covered such topics as how industry can work with Defence and DSRG and key indicators for major capital projects, as well as product delivery improvement and enhancing communications between Defence and industry.
Unfortunately with the Base Services Retendering process now in the tender evaluation stage not a lot could be said on the topic, but Defence Support Operations head Mark Jenkin told delegates that negotiations with the preferred bidder will begin early next year with contract signature in the first half of the year.
Existing base support service providers have been advised that their contracts will be extended to the end of the current financial year.
Presentations at the summit also discussed Defence’s strategic policies and potential opportunities for the Defence Support industry in South-East Asia and the management of security risk in both Defence and industry was covered in some detail by Chief Security Officer, Frank Colley.
From an industry perspective, delegates heard about site remediation, something which is set to be a growth industry as the Defence Estate Consolidation program takes effect in years to come, from Thiess’ Ian Brookman.
Marko Misko, a partner with lawyers Clayton Utz with two decades of Defence contracting experience, spoke in-depth about the Defence suite of contracts, Aurecon’s Peter Jones looked at project financing in the public sector with an emphasis on PPPs and Conrad Gargett Riddel’s John Flynn spoke about the importance of having a comprehensive master plan.
To see photos of the event click here.
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