iTnews

DTA to gain 40 staff after budget windfall

By Justin Hendry on Oct 30, 2020 7:14AM
DTA to gain 40 staff after budget windfall

Workforce boost to support digital agenda.

The Digital Transformation Agency will gain almost 40 additional staff this financial year, contrary to its projected average staffing level (ASL) in the federal budget.

As reported by iTnews earlier this month, the budget had shown the peak IT agency’s workforce to fall from 217 in 2019-20 to 182 in 2020-21, or about 16 percent.

The drop would have seen the DTA’s staffing plunge to its lowest level since it was reborn as a full-fledged agency and took on the government’s II procurement and policy duties in 2016.

This was despite extra funding of $50.2 million in the government’s $800 million digital business plan to progress the Govpass digital identity program over the next two years.

A further $15.8 million was also handed to the agency to “support the continued delivery of government digital transformation priorities” for one year.

But DTA chief Randall Brugeaud told senate estimates on Thursday afternoon that ASL forecasting had not taken into account staff under either of the two funding allocations.

“We have a staffing cap in 2020-21 of 182,” he said in response to questions from Labor senator Helen Polley.

“In 2019-20, it was 217, so there’s 36 which were associated with terminating measures and, as a consequence, our ASL cap reduced to 182.

“But with the budget we received for digital identity our ASL cap was increased by another 14, and then [Department of Social Services] secretary [Kathryn] Campbell has within the portfolio reallocated resourcing to provide the DTA with 60 further ASL.”

“So netting that off, the current ASL cap that the DTA is working to is 256.”

The additional 74 staff - or a net increase of 39  - means the DTA’s workforce will climb to the highest since its predecessor, the Digital Transformation Agency, was created five years ago.

When iTnews put questions to the agency about its projected ASL decrease earlier this month, it did not mention the increase. The DTA also made no attempt to correct the record.

“The DTA manages its average staffing level cap and contingent workforce in alignment with our prescribed remit and priorities,” the spokesperson told iTnews at time.

“Our contingent workforce allows us to engage subject matter experts for defined periods of time and enhance the capability of our ongoing APS workforce, allowing us to demonstrate efficiencies."

Brugeaud also said that the DTA’s current contract workforce consisted of  79 contractors, and that contractor spending was $26.8 million in 2019-20, around $4 million less than 2018-19 ($30.7 million).

“We have about 10 percent less contractors, or in fact 11 percent less contractorsthan we had at the start of this financial year, and we have 10 percent, or 9.7 percent, more permanent staff,” he added.

“So we are balancing our permanent and contract workforce in line with both budgets and skill needs because we tend to cycle contractors through on a very short term basis, where we bring them in to do a piece of work, which is highly specialised in demand, and when they're done, they're done.”

Digital identity laws near

Estimates also revealed that long-awaited legislation for the government’s Govpass digital identity scheme has been drafted and is awaiting the consultation process.

Chief digital officer Peter Alexander said the agency would open consultation on legislation, which the agency was funded in the budget to develop, as soon as the end of this month.

“We're also working on legislation because what we have with digital identity ... is the Trusted Digital Identity Framework that sets out the operating model for digital identity,” he said.

“It sets the rules of operation, how participants in the ecosystem, identity providers, consumers will operate.

“But what we have is a set of rules that the federal government can follow and agencies in the Australian Government can use, but they can't be applied to states and territories, and to the private sector.

“We need legislation to do that, so we're working on legislation, and we're about to go out to consult on that legislation at the end of this month.”

Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Copyright © iTnews.com.au . All rights reserved.
Tags:
contractordigitaldigital identitydtaemployeefederal governmentgovernmentitlawlegislationstaffstrategy

Partner Content

The case for postponing mainframe migration has eroded
Partner Content The case for postponing mainframe migration has eroded
DoT Victoria turns to Oracle to implement unified cloud-based platform
Promoted Content DoT Victoria turns to Oracle to implement unified cloud-based platform
Vast majority of surveyed firms still rely on password authentication
Promoted Content Vast majority of surveyed firms still rely on password authentication
Tick off the ransomware bandits
Promoted Content Tick off the ransomware bandits

Sponsored Whitepapers

Planning before the breach: You can’t protect what you can’t see
Planning before the breach: You can’t protect what you can’t see
Beyond FTP: Securing and Managing File Transfers
Beyond FTP: Securing and Managing File Transfers
NextGen Security Operations: A Roadmap for the Future
NextGen Security Operations: A Roadmap for the Future
Video: Watch Juniper talk about its Aston Martin partnership
Video: Watch Juniper talk about its Aston Martin partnership
Don’t pay the ransom: A three-step guide to ransomware protection
Don’t pay the ransom: A three-step guide to ransomware protection

Events

  • iTnews Benchmark Awards 2022 - Finalist Showcase
  • 11th Annual Fraud Prevention Summit 2022
  • IoT Impact Conference
  • Cyber Security for Government Summit
By Justin Hendry
Oct 30 2020
7:14AM
0 Comments

Related Articles

  • Digital identity legislation up for consultation
  • DTA loses more than 90 staff after restructure
  • Government unveils digital identity bill
  • OCR Labs earns govt digital ID accreditation
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Email A Friend

Most Read Articles

Kmart Australia stands up consent-as-a-service platform

Kmart Australia stands up consent-as-a-service platform

NSW digital driver's licences 'easily forgeable'

NSW digital driver's licences 'easily forgeable'

Kmart Australia re-platforms ecommerce site to AWS

Kmart Australia re-platforms ecommerce site to AWS

NBN Co's 250Mbps and gigabit growth is finally clear

NBN Co's 250Mbps and gigabit growth is finally clear

Digital Nation

Metaverse hype will transition into new business models by mid decade: Gartner
Metaverse hype will transition into new business models by mid decade: Gartner
The other ‘CTO’: The emerging role of the chief transformation officer
The other ‘CTO’: The emerging role of the chief transformation officer
As NFTs gain traction, businesses start taking early bets
As NFTs gain traction, businesses start taking early bets
COVER STORY: From cost control to customer fanatics, AI is transforming the contact centre
COVER STORY: From cost control to customer fanatics, AI is transforming the contact centre
Case Study: PlayHQ leverages graph technologies for sports administration
Case Study: PlayHQ leverages graph technologies for sports administration
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorisation.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of nextmedia's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.