The agency responsible for vetting public service employees for security clearances is considering cutting the number of contractors it uses in order to cut its backlog of applications.
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In a discussion paper published by the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency, it said it intended to change the contractual arrangements it had with the 23 private companies it used to outsource vetting. The current system has a number of problems, it said, which "lead to vetting backlogs, increase pressure on current resources and affect the ability to deliver the government required capabilities".
The paper said the agency was considering moving to a contract with a single provider, an arrangement with a panel of providers or contracts with multiple providers for an annually contracted amount of work. It was also considering a model where "prime service providers" would have contracts with the government agency and could further contract the work out to smaller businesses.
The discussion paper said "increased management overhead in administering the current panel" was an issue with the current model.
There is concern among the providers that the new model could edge out smaller businesses that contract work from the agency.
The discussion paper also outlined ambitious new benchmark time frames for returning clearance reports to the agency. In the future arrangements, the benchmark for the lowest baseline clearance would be 10 business days, down from the current 30 days. The next level, Negative Vetting 1, would have a 40 business day turnaround, down from four months. Positive vetting, the highest level of security clearance handled by the agency, would have a 80 business day benchmark. It is currently six months.
The agency was lashed by an audit report in March, which found that between 2015-16 and 2016-17, the average wait times for complex cases at all levels had blown out and complex cases for baseline clearances took almost five months on average to be approved. The worst waits occurred at the highest level though; non-complex cases for positive vetting took almost 18 months on average to be completed, and complex cases took more than two years on average.
According to the discussion paper, the number of security clearances it will be required to process in 2017-18 will be just under 48,000 - an increase on the 46,471 clearances processed in the past financial year. The agency also expects its spending on external contractors to undertake the work to increase to $31.6 million, from $26.9 million in 2016-17.
A new IT project to improve security vetting practices isn't due to be introduced until 2023, and while the current arrangements could be extended until August 2020, the paper said the agency didn't intend to use the extension until that time.
A Defence spokeswoman said in a statement that 29 responses to the discussion paper had been received.
"No decisions have been taken on a future model. Industry responses will be used to inform the approach AGSVA take to a market tender process later this year for a new contract arrangement commencing in mid-2019," she said.
