SCSA's oversight role

Upon completion of the station's construction phase, the concessionaire assumed the operational management of the station.

In contrast to the SCSA's earlier role of directly managing the precinct and the redevelopment, the SCSA's key roles are now to:

•  monitor and assess the concessionaire's management and operation of the station based on a KPI regime on behalf of the State

•  manage a number of capital projects within the precinct

•  exercise owner obligations over SCSA land in the broader station precinct.

The SCSA monitors the concessionaire's service delivery and performance against KPIs by reviewing the Quarterly Performance Reports (QPRs) provided by the concessionaire. Based on the review, the SCSA assesses any underperformance and determines whether an abatement amount should be applied.

The SCSA relies on the accuracy and quality of the QPRs which are populated from PMS data. As already mentioned, a recent independent review (commissioned by the SCSA) found a number of issues related to the PMS. These issues affect the rigour and accuracy of any assessment of the concessionaire's performance.

As an interim response to the difficulty in measuring some of the current KPIs, the SCSA conducts ad hoc spot checks of the concessionaire's service performance as an additional method of performance monitoring. However, these checks are not conducted with a frequency or schedule which would allow rigorous performance inferences.

The SCSA's change in operational objectives and responsibilities has also highlighted staffing issues in terms of the number of skilled people available and the skills required to perform its present management and oversight role. For example, there is only one contract manager who is responsible for monitoring and assessing all of the concessionaire's performance standards.

In its corporate plan, the SCSA has recognised the need to review its staffing requirements as it continues to monitor and assess the performance of the precinct, as well as manage a range of capital projects within the precinct.

Generally, our analysis showed that the SCSA is fulfilling its contract management role, however, improvements must be made to address issues in terms of:

•  incomplete asset management plans

•  KPI measurement difficulties

•  PMS data integrity

•  QPR format inconsistency (and its impact on trend analysis)

• staffing requirements.

The SCSA has acknowledged that these issues affect its ability to efficiently and effectively perform its contract management and oversight role. The SCSA has recognised these issues in its most recent corporate plan which sets a timetable to rectify the problems.

It should be noted that identification of these issues in itself is evidence that the SCSA's governance structure has worked appropriately to address gaps in effectiveness of the existing monitoring regime.

An internal view of the regional rail terminal.