Global learnings and experience 

Government ICT projects are often too ambitious and too complex… A project that is too complex lacks balance between the ambitions and the available human, financial and time resources…

Lessons Learned from Government ICT Projects Part A

Dutch Court of Audit

Global learnings and experience

Strong leadership with clear accountability is a key element of successful project delivery... the overriding requirement is that the SRO is able to devote the necessary time to the project to execute their responsibilities in full.

The role of the SRO

UK Government Project Delivery Function

Support for SROs

From 2025, Senior Responsible Officials of Australian Government digital and ICT projects are required to participate in a mandatory professional development program. The program will support these senior leaders through curated content aimed at uplifting digital and ICT project governance capabilities. More information is available on request from the DTA.

Contact & Feedback

We value your feedback and ideas to help improve our processes and information. If you have any comments regarding this document, please share your thoughts with us. The DTA is actively seeking agency support in ensuring this policy is fit for purpose. If you’d like to be involved, please contact: benefits.management@dta.gov.au.

Investment by sector

Digital projects under the DTA’s assurance oversight have been grouped into the following 9 sectors for the purposes of this report:

  1. Healthcare and aged care
  2. Industry, infrastructure and business
  3. Safety of Australians
  4. Agriculture and trade
  5. Resources and the environment
  6. Social services
  7. Education and employment
  8. Government
  9. Tax and super

Project budgets: $1M–$3B

Project duration: 1–35 Years

Projects range in total budget from less than $1 million to more than $3 billion, and in duration from one year to 35 years. What each of these projects has in common is that they are harnessing technology to deliver benefits for Australians.

Project budgets: 2/3 digital technologies

For the projects included in this report, on average about two-thirds of the total project budget relates directly to digital technologies with one-third going to non-digital spending.

Disclaimer

“Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures.” 

Disclaimer

“Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures.” 

Disclaimer

“Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures.” 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures. 

Disclaimer

“Certain numbers in this report have been rounded to one decimal place. Due to rounding, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures.” 

Key figures

  • 46 agencies
  • $12.9B total project budget
  • $5.6B digital budget
  • 110 active projects
    • 20 Tier 1: Tier 1 projects are the Australian Government's most complex and strategically significant digital projects
    • 42 Tier 2: Tier 2 projects are also complex and strategically significant, but with smaller scope, lower criticality and/or lower cost than Tier 1 projects
    • 48 Tier 3: Tier 3 projects are significant investments that generally represent lower risk.

Connect with the digital community

Share, build or learn digital experience and skills with training and events, and collaborate with peers across government.