The Defence Strategic Reform Program (SRP) will deliver more than A$1 billion in cost-reductions in 2010-11 for reinvestment in Defence capability and give Australia a stronger, more agile and harder-hitting Defence Force.
This builds on the cost-reductions of A$797 million Defence will achieve in 2009-10.
The Minister for Defence, Senator John Faulkner, said: “The Strategic Reform Program is a major public sector reform initiative. The SRP is a decade-long campaign of reform that engages all areas of Defence. It will transform how Defence works in fundamental ways. It will deliver real change.”
Over the period 2009-10 to 2018-19, the SRP will reform the way Defence does business, freeing up internal resources of A$20.6 billion to reinvest in the development of tomorrow’s Australian Defence Force – Force 2030.
Force 2030 is the Government’s plan to build a stronger Australian Defence Force. It will take years of investment and steady building to create the military capabilities we need for national security in the future.
Senator Faulkner said, “The SRP will ensure that Defence is capable of delivering and operating Force 2030 over the next 20 years to help keep Australia secure in the future.”
The A$1 billion in cost-reductions in 2010-11 will come from a number of reform streams, including around A$293 million from improved maintenance and inventory management techniques and around A$221 million from better management of Defence non-equipment procurement.
There will be A$384 million invested in reform initiatives in 2010-11 as part of the SRP. This is just one component of a A$2.3 billion package of investment provided in the White Paper to enable the implementation of reforms over the next decade.
“We are committed to investing the money needed to fix Defence’s ‘broken backbone’ so that we can achieve long-term reform and cost-reductions to reinvest in Force 2030.
“The SRP is not just about delivering savings and efficiencies. It is about fundamental reform. It is also an integral component of the White Paper. It is the means by which we will build an organisation capable of delivering and sustaining Force 2030. To be blunt, achieving Force 2030 in its full potential will not be possible without achieving the SRP,” said Senator Faulkner.
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Strategic Reform Program to Deliver $1 Billion of Cost-Reductions in 2010-11
