Image: Theen Moy/flickr
The Queensland government has reaffirmed its commitment to delivering a new payroll system to ensure public servants are ‘paid accurately and on time’.
In a bureaucratic headache that’s festered since the former Liberal National Party (LNP) Government under Premier Campbell Newman, his successor Annastacia Palaszczuk has been under pressure to deliver a new payroll system to four state government agencies to replace outdated modes of salary payment.
Queensland Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy Leeanne Enoch said arrangements were in place to “successfully deliver’’ the new payroll system to four agencies – which would be rigorously tested before being introduced.
Ms Enoch pointed the finger at the former LNP government for its “complete mismanagement” of the program “from day one”.
“They allocated $100 million to this program in 2012, and it is my understanding the LNP subsequently invested about $18.5 million – or more than half the spend to date – into it for work including initial scoping and a procurement exercise,” Ms Enoch said.
“I can assure everyone we will not take shortcuts, and we are applying due diligence to this process.”
The government expects the full implementation of the payroll component of its Human Resources Information System (HRIS), for four agencies, will be completed by the end of 2018.
“One agency was completed in November 2016. The next implementation is on track for completion by the end of this financial year. The remaining implementations are scheduled for completion by the end of 2018,” Ms Enoch said.
“The various payroll implementations will not go live until rigorous testing of the payroll system has been completed and independently assured,” she said
Ms Enoch said the Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation (DSITI) took over management of the wider HRIS program in late 2016 due to the department’s considerable program management capability and success in managing large complex, multi-agency ICT programs.
