The reforms follow a string of frustrating procurement overruns for the Australian Department of Defence.

The Australian Government will create a new Defence Delivery Agency (DDA) within the Department of Defence (DoD) in an effort to consolidate procurement efforts more efficiently.

The reforms will see the DoD hire a National Armaments Director (NAD) to manage the organisation, according to a DoD statement on 1 December. 

It bares some similarity to the UK Government’s ongoing defence reforms, which saw it select its own NAD on 22 October. 

The release states that the new Australian NAD will have direct budgetary control, “enabling coordinated and holistic delivery of defence capability and growing [Australia’s] sovereign defence industrial base”. 

The NAD will report directly to ministers, the DoD explains. 

When up and running, the DDA will absorb a trio of existing delivery organisations, including the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group, and the Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group.  

However, the DoD has not revealed when the DDA is expected to reach its full operating capability, or when the new NAD will be hired at the time of publication. 

Overall, it is hoped that the new structure and streamlined processes will give greater oversight, accountability, and control over the procurement lifecycle, which is especially important following some troubled recent contracts. 

Significant pressure began to mount on the DoD back in February, when it was widely reported that 20 programmes – including the Hunter-class frigate programme, and the acquisition of F-35 fighter jets – faced a total of 38 years of delays. This followed the damning 2022-23 Major Projects Report. 

Seeking to change this, Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, said that the DDA “will drive stronger contestability, more accurate cost estimation, and clearer accountability for the delivery of major projects”.  

Further championing the organisation, Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry, commented that “it will create more opportunities for Australian businesses and workers to contribute to Australia’s national security”. 

The announcement follows the Australian Government’s existing commitments to increase defence spending by “AUD70 billion [~USD46.08 billion] over the next decade”, including what it calls “record spending on acquisition and sustainment”.