Today the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced the establishment of a new Building the Education Revolution (BER) Implementation Taskforce to work closely with State and Territory Education Authorities in responding to complaints about the program.
The Taskforce will investigate any legitimate concerns to ensure value for money and transparency in the $16.2 billion program – the largest capital infrastructure program ever undertaken to modernise our schools.
The Taskforce will be led by Mr Brad Orgill, former Chairman and CEO of UBS Australia. Mr Orgill has also been a member of the Business Council of Australia and he was most recently a member of a panel convened for the Lowy Institute looking at Australia’s diplomatic network and efforts.
Mr Orgill and his team will investigate and/or review legitimate complaints and refer matters back to the State and Territory Education Authorities for action if required. The Taskforce will commence work on Monday, 3 May 2010.
The Taskforce will operate independently and report to the Deputy Prime Minister. Consistent with current arrangements for the Economic Stimulus Plan, the Taskforce will work in conjunction with the office of the Coordinator-General within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet which reports to the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery, Senator Mark Arbib.
Terms of Reference
The BER Implementation Taskforce is responsible for:
- receiving, investigating and responding to complaints regarding the full operation of BER, including individual school projects, in particular:
- by referring complaints or evidence of potential breaches of the law, regulations or guidelines to the appropriate authority for action, and
- ensuring arrangements are in place between the Commonwealth and states and territories to minimise duplication of complaints handling processes.
- assessing value for money aspects of individual projects, including project oversight and administration,
- investigating and assessing at its own discretion areas of the operation of BER, especially as they impinge on the outcomes of projects at schools, and
- making recommendations to the responsible authority about changes to policy, contracts or projects required to ensure the objectives of the BER are realised.
In undertaking these tasks the Taskforce has been directed by the Australian Government to report publicly on the nature, progress and results of investigations and inform the Australian Government of recommendations for changes to policy, contracts or projects required to ensure the objectives of the BER are realised.
More information is available in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Media Release.