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Australia: Aged-care department IT contracts blow out by $227.9 million — Some government contracts with Accenture, Salesforce, etc. now costing taxpayers up to eight times its original valuation

EXCLUSIVE: An investigation into multiple technology contracts signed to support the new Aged Care Act has raised doubts over the Commonwealth’s capacity to properly manage the delayed implementation of the law.

Soaring fees charged by foreign multinationals for IT services tied to the federal government’s new Aged Care Act have seen the implementation of the already delayed law blow out by at least $227.9 million. Peter Behrendt, a former Royal Australian Navy officer with more than 30 years of experience in defence and technology procurement, tells The Saturday Paper that a big problem in Australia is the Commonwealth is often too afraid to use its market power to force suppliers to stick to the original terms of the contracts being negotiated. By subscribing to The Saturday Paper, you are ensuring that we can continue to produce essential, issue-defining coverage, to dig out stories that take time, to doggedly hold to account politicians and the political class.

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