3.2.1  Formalisation of the project steering committee and the government project team

Successful implementation of the public private partnership process requires an effective project management structure and a dedicated government project team with an appropriate mix of skills and experience from key technical, legal, commercial and financial disciplines. Figure 5 outlines a typical project management structure.

Figure 5 - Typical project management structure

*The Department of Infrastructure and Planning and Treasury representatives on the steering committee will report through their respective Directors-General to the relevant Ministers.

A steering committee will oversee the development of the project and deal with key commercial and policy issues, including the content of key documentation, evaluation of competitive bids, recommendation of shortlists and of the preferred bidder. The project steering committee will approve submissions to Ministers on key policy and commercial matters. The project steering committee will include representation from the relevant agency (ideally the Director-General or at least Deputy Director-General level), the Department of Infrastructure and Planning, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Treasury, together with the project director.

A project director should be appointed by the agency with overall responsibility for delivery of the project. The project director has responsibility for management of the government project team, including external advisers.

Agencies should expect to engage specialist external advisers in the areas of legal, financial, planning, engineering/technical, probity and communications as required. The specific skill sets and experience required will vary between projects. The process of selecting and appointing external advisers should commence as soon as practicable (that is, as soon as the project director is appointed). Even if a particular adviser is not required until a later stage, it may be appropriate to appoint them early to ensure that the most suitable advisers are available.

Key personnel should be identified for the task of managing the project agreements and incorporated into the government project team. This will ensure that contract management issues are properly explored during the public private partnership business case development stage, and that there is a continuity of knowledge throughout the life of the project.

The project resourcing supporting document contains a more detailed discussion of the establishment of a project management structure.