AEC's election donation system build more than doubles to $70m

The Australian Electoral Commission’s outsourced build of an election donation system has more than doubled in cost to $70.8 million since the start of the year, with still more parts to be commissioned.

iTnews reported in January that the commission had contracted Accenture as its ICT delivery partner for the funding and disclosure (FAD) reform program.

A secure, cloud-based platform is being built to manage political donations and disclosures, under what’s being touted as one of the biggest changes to Australia’s electoral laws in four decades.

The initial value of the Accenture deal was put at $30 million; however, iTnews can reveal it has since been varied three times, with an additional “option” triggered in mid-July.

One of the amendments, which started July 1, is worth nearly $28 million.

An AEC spokesperson told iTnews the program is being split into an unspecified number of “work packages” that are being progressively released to Accenture.

The spokesperson would not say how many “work packages” are in the program.

They also would not disclose the total budget for the ICT work.

“The anticipated total contract value is commercial in confidence information and cannot be disclosed,” the spokesperson said, an indication that the final cost is not $70 million and will continue to increase.

“The contract with Accenture has adopted a modular approach, where a new work order for a new work package is only agreed based on satisfactory delivery performance by Accenture.

“We anticipate more variations to cover the remaining work packages being delivered by the project to support the reforms.”

Splitting large programs into smaller work increments that are progressively commissioned has become a favoured approach of governments seeking to mitigate against the potential for large-scale technology failures.

The approach is designed to ensure progressive delivery of a working system.

“Under the contract with Accenture, ICT systems to be delivered to support the reforms are split into different work packages,” the AEC spokesperson said.

“This is to ensure the AEC maintains value for money in its engagement with Accenture whilst also meeting the legislative requirements of the reforms. 

“Each variation represents a work order for a specific work package and/or specialist resources to support technical delivery.”

The spokesperson said that the increase in cost of work outsourced to Accenture “reflects the work commissioned under these work orders.”

“These variations to the contract with Accenture were planned and are in line with what the AEC forecast when seeking an ICT delivery partner from [the] market,” the spokesperson said.

“The end date has remained unchanged as the work continues to align with the original program schedule and budget.”

The contract with Accenture runs through to mid-2028, with a potential optional extension for an additional year.