More than $44.5 million was paid to 23 consulting companies who were granted contracts to work on the ACT government's abandoned project to introduce a new human resources management system.
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Nearly $76 million had been spent on the project before it was halted, with the opposition on Wednesday accusing the government of wasting taxpayers' money.
Special Minister of State Chris Steel said the government first became aware there was a problem with the project in the lead up to December 2020, when a project deadline was set to be missed.
The list of 23 companies granted contracts was included in response to a question on notice from the Canberra Liberals' Peter Cain.
Mr Cain, the shadow treasurer, said the abandoned project showed Canberrans could not trust the territory government to deliver complex information technology projects.
"The Special Minister of State claimed in budget estimates last year that this program would generate long-term savings. There is clearly much more that needs to be explained and the Special Minister of State needs to be upfront with Canberrans for once," Mr Cain said.
"The path back to surplus for the ACT budget will be driven by effective value-for-money procurement, not wasting tens of millions of public funds on abandoned projects.
"In the past, ministers, even Chief Ministers, have resigned for less. The Special Minister of State needs to take a good long hard look at himself over such wastage."
Mr Steel took on notice in question time whether he could table the project's business case and project management plan in the Legislative Assembly.
Mr Steel said the government became aware the first element of the project would not be achieved by its December 2020 delivery date, prompting changes to the project's governance.
"That was the point that we became aware that it was certainly not going to be on track," Mr Steel said.
The program was paused in September 2021 so it could be reviewed, he said.
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Mr Steel said a new learning management system had been delivered that was now being used by public servants across the ACT.
"There's certainly been significant learnings through this project around business processes which will carry forward into the upgrades of the existing systems," he said.
The government will now work to upgrade its existing system, an option which it said had been disregarded too early in the cancelled overhaul project.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the project had not achieved what the government had hoped for, but said it was not a total write off.
"There is obviously additional capacity and some advantages from having pursued this project," Mr Barr said on the sidelines of post-budget lunch with the Canberra Business Chamber.
Mr Barr said the government had looked at the way all government information technology projects were assessed and delivered and changes had been made.
A consultant's review of the project found there was no single person accountable for delivering the new system and overall governance was "deficient" at all levels.
There was "no single source of truth" about the status of the project to roll out the SAPSuccessFactors program, the review found.
with Brittney Levinson
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
