Driving ICT Excellence: Harnessing the Power of the DTA Framework

The Case for Change: Learning from the Past

The cautionary tales of projects like GovERP and the Queensland Health payroll system underscore the risks of ignoring the fundamentals. GovERP, initiated with ambitious objectives in 2017, aimed to standardise back-office processes across government via a cloud-based ERP system. Despite noble intentions, the program was plagued by scope creep, misaligned stakeholder expectations, and implementation delays, ultimately leading to its abandonment after a $341 million spend.

Queensland Health’s payroll project tells a similar story: a $7 million project ballooned to over $100 million due to inadequate planning, compressed scoping timelines, and an underqualified vendor. The human impact, staff being overpaid or unpaid, highlighted not just financial costs, but reputational damage and diminished trust.

These failures share common traits: under-scoped planning, poor risk management, governance breakdowns, and lack of stakeholder engagement. They didn’t fail due to ambition, but rather from a lack of structured oversight and discipline in execution.

A Framework for Success: DTA’s IOF

In response to these challenges, the DTA’s Investment Oversight Framework has been updated to emphasise value delivery, strong governance, and evidence-based decision-making. The framework breaks ICT project lifecycles across six interconnected states:

1. Strategic Planning – ensuring alignment with long-term government goals
2. Prioritisation – determining which proposals get funding
3. Contestability – pressure-testing business cases and technical feasibility
4. Assurance – Implementation oversight, project health and delivery confidence assessment (DCA)
5. Sourcing – ensuring procurement aligns with strategy
6. Operations – focusing on ongoing health and performance metrics

Under this model, assurance is no longer a one-time hurdle but a continuous support mechanism. Independent advice, delivery confidence assessments, and embedded assurance teams are used to uncover blind spots and mitigate risks early, before they spiral out of control.

Investing in Leadership: The Role of the SRO

A notable evolution in the DTA framework is the mandatory training for Senior Responsible Officials (SROs). Any SRO overseeing a digital project valued at $30 million or more must now undergo a two-day intensive program. The training focuses on active governance, performance management of suppliers, and real-world simulations of ICT project challenges.

This is a powerful step forward. Too often, program leaders are thrown into roles without the tools or support they need. The public sector has struggled with hierarchical tensions, undertrained staff, and over-reliance on contractors. Equipping SROs with the right skills ensures stronger leadership, smarter risk-taking, and better project outcomes.

The Critical Drivers of ICT Success

So what does success look like? Based on extensive experience across both government and private sector ICT programs, nine key drivers have emerged as essential:

1. Governance – Clear accountability and adaptive decision-making structures
2. Benefits Realisation – Defined, measurable objectives from day one
3. Skilled Workforce – Having the right people, at the right time
4. Risk Management – Ownership, visibility, and mitigation at all levels
5. Stakeholder Engagement – Early, continuous, and meaningful involvement
6. Data-Driven Performance – Metrics that measure real progress
7. Change Management – Preparing people, not just systems, for transformation
8. Technology Alignment – Ensuring compatibility and avoiding legacy traps
9. Budget Discipline & Continuous Improvement – Spending smart, learning fast

Time and again, projects that succeed are those that invest early in these fundamentals. Conversely, neglecting even one of these drivers can compound risk and derail momentum.

Contracts, Culture, and Conversations

Another often-overlooked issue is the tendering process itself. Government agencies frequently receive under-scoped proposals from vendors who aim to win on price, then expand the contract post-award. This practice leads to scope creep and misaligned expectations.

To counter this, agencies must embrace early, honest conversations, both internally and with vendors. Engage third-party facilitators where needed, clarify expectations, and co-develop realistic outcomes. By treating suppliers as partners, not just service providers, you can establish a foundation for shared success.

Digital transformation in government is an imperative. But transformation without discipline leads only to wasted investment and lost public confidence. The DTA’s framework, with its focus on governance, accountability, and value delivery, offers a powerful guide to doing things differently, and better. Now is the time for agency leaders, project teams, and suppliers alike to embrace assurance not as an audit function, but as a strategic asset. By leaning into structured oversight and learning from past failures, we can turn Australia’s ICT investment landscape into one of success stories, not cautionary tales.