1.14 As an initial stage of the ANAO's development of processes and procedures to provide independent assurance over the PDSSs, the ANAO has focused on reviewing the DMO's project management and reporting arrangements, and the number of the different processes in place that contribute to the overall governance of Major Projects within the DMO. This focus has encompassed the following, to the extent that they impact on the preparation of the PDSSs:
● the specific control framework applied to progress tracking and payment systems, including prime contractor progress payments and the revised reporting of the financial information contained within Section 2 of the PDSSs;
● ongoing review of the ERMF and major risk and issue data contained in the PDSSs from each project;
● specific programs for the management of acquisition such as GRABs, the tailored oversight arrangements for projects on the Projects of Concern list, assurance mapping processes and skilling;
● as recommended by the JCPAA:25
- lessons learned that are unique to the individual project and their incorporation into future policy and practice;26
- the disaggregation of information on capability at the project level by way of inclusion of MOE data (DMO's assessment of its likelihood of delivering projects' key capabilities);
- ongoing disaggregated reporting of maturity scores and explanation of the benchmarks;27 and
• following the JCPAA's interest, the review also involved analysis of the use of the Earned Value Management System (EVMS), contingency management, and prepayments to contractors.
1.15 This review has informed the ANAO's understanding of the DMO systems and processes used to populate the PDSSs for 2009-10, and highlighted issues in those systems and processes to be addressed in the longer term.
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25 Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, Report 416, Review of the Major Projects Report 2007 - 2008, November 2009, p.x.
26 Lessons learned were incorporated in the 2008-09 MPR.
27 Disaggregated project maturity scores were incorporated in the 2008-09 MPR.