Australia has seen many different governance arrangements for PPP projects.
Some have been procured by the government agency responsible for delivering the type of services that the PPP will deliver (examples include the Waratah train procured by RailCorp, and the Sydney toll roads (excluding WestConnex) procured by Roads and Maritime Services).
Others have been procured by project specific authorities established for the sole purpose of facilitating the project (for example, the Melbourne City Link Project, procured by the Melbourne City Link Authority; and the WestConnex project, procured by the Sydney Motorway Company). Some of these authorities continue to manage the project contracts during the operations phase (for example, the AustralAsia Railway Project between Adelaide and Darwin, which continues to be administered by the AustralAsia Railway Corporation established by the South Australian and Northern Territory Governments).
Others have transferred the contract management function following completion of construction to the government agency usually responsible for delivering the relevant services. For example, the contracts for Eastlink and Peninsula Link are now administered by VicRoads, after having been awarded and managed during the delivery phase by the Linking Melbourne Authority.
State Treasury Departments have controlled the development of PPP policy, and developed specialist expertise in the structuring, negotiation and administration of PPP contracts. More recently, Infrastructure NSW has developed centralised expertise in the procurement and delivery of PPPs.
There presently seems to be a preference for more centralised PPP procurement authorities. This approach facilitates the development of public sector expertise in the procurement of PPPs, as it provides opportunities for public sector procurement specialists to apply lessons learned to subsequent projects and to further develop their skills. A downside, however, is that government agencies that take over the administration of the contracts once the procurement and construction phases have been completed find it difficult to understand and master the complex contractual arrangements which they inherit. There is considerable value in government achieving continuity of expertise across the procurement, delivery and operation phases of a project. The Waratah train PPP is a rare example of a project where the government's project director has been intimately involved in each of the procurement, delivery and operation phases.
Contract management plans and contract administration manuals should be developed for all PPP projects. The contract administration manual should evolve as the project moves through the design, construction and operation phases. Experienced government project directors will also ensure that their budget will allow them to continue to access the support of professional advisors.
Post-implementation reviews should also be conducted in accordance with the National PPP Policy and Guidelines. Infrastructure Australia is presently advocating reforms which would see post-completion reviews become a requirement for federal infrastructure funding. Such reviews should be transparent to the public so that both government and community can learn from past experience and have confidence in a robust and transparent process for developing and monitoring significant infrastructure PPPs.