Department managing of FFP ‘ineffective’

The Auditor General Report into the administration of the Future Fit Program by the Australian National Audit Office has been tabled this week, after finding the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s administration as ineffective.

The FFP – a project aimed at modernising home care services and technology – provided a cumulative $8.74 million in procurement payments to Miles Morgan Australia to support Meals on Wheels Australia and the broader Meals on Wheels network as they transition to Support at Home.

The ANAO report concluded that in addition to the department’s ineffective administration there was poor risk assessment, procurement processes that fell short of ethical standards, weak probity management and deficient record management – among other failures.

Adjunct Professor at UNSW and Queensland University of Technology Kathy Eager referred to the report conclusions as “a case study in public sector mismanagement,” on LinkedIn, which social demographer Brian Cooper agreed with, writing that the department’s conduct showed a “broader crisis in public sector reform.”

He also noted that consultants were awarded sole-source contracts without competitive testing and community stakeholders were excluded, leading to “unmet” and “unevaluated” deliverables.

“These failures are not isolated – they reflect systemic flaws in Australia’s approach to service transformation, particularly for older people from culturally diverse or regional communities. The Future Fit Program is not just a failed pilot; it is a warning about what happens when integrity and inclusion are sidelined in policy execution,” he commented on LinkedIn.

Meals on Wheels Australia chair Paul Sadler said the ANAO report highlighted significant shortcomings in project management, procurement, contract oversight, and stakeholder engagement.

“The program’s failures caused disruption to Meals on Wheels nationally and eroded trust across our network. The negative impact on people involved cannot be overstated,” Mr Sadler added.

However, he said MoWA and its participating services are encouraged by the department’s commitment to implementing all eight recommendations, which are:

1. the department will implement controls to assure that all potential projects are assessed against project tiering guidelines and the rationale for not categorising a project into one of its three project tiers is recorded
2. when procuring project management services, the department ensures that accountability for project delivery is recognised in governance arrangements, and that project risk is managed in accordance with project and risk management frameworks
3. for projects that involve complex stakeholder relationships, the department will develop processes to ensure that stakeholder engagement plans are prepared that reflect the five Stakeholder Engagement Framework principles and outcomes of stakeholder interactions are appropriately recorded
4. the department will evaluate the Ballarat and Whitehorse LGA pilot programs to inform future program design and to better support the transition of CHSP providers to the new SaH program
5. the department will amend its procurement risk profile template to include consideration of the lawful basis for the proposed procurement expenditure
6. the department will strengthen its procurement procedures to ensure legal advice obtained in the course of arranging a procurement is shared with the Procurement Advisory Services team to mitigate procurement risk
7. the department will strengthen procurement controls to ensure that relevant information – including price, legal advice, past and ongoing disputes, and performance issues – is incorporated into the value for money assessment
8. to ensure the proper use and management of public resources, the department will reinforce to officials their records management obligations under the Archives Act 1983, including when using mobile devices for official business.

“We look forward to continuing working constructively with the department as it strengthens its processes. It is vital that the efforts and goodwill of participating services are not lost, and that this experience becomes a catalyst for meaningful improvement,” said Mr Sadler.

Importantly, he added, the report underscores the value of MoWA services, and the department acknowledged the critical social capital generated by CHSP services such as meals and transport.

“In the coming weeks, MoWA will convene a meeting of national peak bodies focused on preserving and strengthening CHSP services,” he said.

“The ANAO report will be a key point of discussion, and we anticipate working collaboratively with organisations including the National Aged Care Alliance to chart a positive and sustainable future for older Australians.”

Follow Community Care Review on Facebook and LinkedIn and sign up to our newsletter.