Review approach

1.7  In accordance with the provisions of section 20(1)(c) of the Auditor-General Act 1997, the ANAO and the DMO have entered into an agreement facilitating this review. The ANAO's review of the individual PDSSs contained in Part 3 of this report has been conducted in accordance with the Australian Standard on Assurance Engagements (ASAE) 3000 Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information issued by the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

1.8  The agreement for the ANAO's review of the PDSSs excludes from the review's scope future dates or events (including forecasts on delivering the capability set out in MOEs), risks and issues. By its nature, this information relates to events and depend on circumstances that have not yet occurred or may not occur, or have occurred but have not yet been identified. Accordingly, the conclusion of this review does not provide any assurance in relation to this information.

1.9  In this regard, Table 4 lists the PDSS items which are out of scope for the review due to their high levels of inherent uncertainty.

Table 4

ANAO's Review of 2009-10 PDSSs: Items in the PDSS that are Out of Scope

1.10  As part of the review process the DMO has developed an MPR work plan, incorporating a set of PDSS guidelines, in consultation with the ANAO. The guidelines provide direction to the DMO's project offices in providing complete and accurate PDSSs and supporting information for the ANAO to then review.

1.11  As part of the development of the guidelines, they were provided to the JCPAA for endorsement. The JCPAA is also briefed on key aspects of report development to ensure that it meets the committee's needs and the objectives of enhancing transparency and accountability in relation to the performance of Major Projects.

1.12  Our review of the information presented in the individual PDSSs included:

●  an examination of each PDSS;

●  a review of relevant procedures and guidelines used by the DMO to prepare the PDSSs;

●  a review of documents and information relevant to the PDSSs;

●  an assessment of the DMO's systems and controls in place to ensure PDSS information is accurate and complete;

●  interviews with persons responsible for the preparation of the PDSSs and those responsible for the management of the 22 projects;

●  taking account of industry contractor comments on draft PDSS information; and

●  an examination of the statements and management representations by the CEO DMO and senior DMO managers, and confirmations from the three ADF Service Chiefs concerning the overall accuracy and completeness of the PDSSs, including the reporting of projects' status in terms of progress towards or achievement of initial and final operational capability.

1.13  While our work is appropriate for the purpose of providing a review report in accordance with ASAE 3000, our review is not as extensive as individual project performance audits conducted by the ANAO, in terms of the nature and scope of project issues covered, and the extent to which evidence is required by the ANAO. Consequently, the level of assurance provided by this review in relation to the 22 Major Projects is less than that typically provided by our performance audits.