The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water (DCCEEW) has recently announced its intention to transition away from its shared IT services arrangement with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) over the next two years. This decision, made in June, has now been revealed in a recent tender document.
Currently, the DCCEEW relies on DAFF to provide “core ICT services” for its 4400 staff and contractors. However, DCCEEW plans to establish its own IT infrastructure and services. While the specifics of the transition have yet to be fully planned, discussions will take place between DAFF and DCCEEW stakeholders.
DCCEEW was established in mid-2022 and assumed responsibility for climate and energy functions previously held by the Department of Industry.
This shift away from shared services aligns with DAFF’s broader review of how it sources and delivers ICT services, both internally and potentially as shared services with other departments. This review began late last year and has evolved, as indicated in the recently released tender documents.
Within DAFF, ICT and digital services fall under the Digital Services Division (DSD), which manages the department’s digital and technology environment. DSD provides essential technology services that support various teams and functions within the department. As part of its plans, DSD aims to create a “service catalogue” and engage service providers in areas such as enterprise service management, end user productivity, hybrid compute and storage, managed network services, telecommunications, and staff augmentation.
In the current tender, DAFF is seeking suppliers for end user productivity and service desk services, with an initial three-year contract term and the option to extend beyond that period. The maximum allowable “whole-of-life cost” for these services is set at $100 million, and they must be operational by May 2024, according to the documents.
