43 / 76
Defence achieved the very first
exercise by a Commonwealth
agency of a provision in the
Commonwealth Procurement Rules
for a construction contract to an
Indigenous-owned enterprise—
Pacific Services Group Holdings
Pty Ltd—for a project worth up to
$6 million at HMAS Waterhen in
Sydney. Dennis explained:
It was Steve’s group that did
that. The benefits, the flow-on
effects are what I’m looking
for. The personal experience is
one thing but it’s the impact
of those personal experiences
on what someone brings
back into the workplace
which is the real trade-off,
from a broader organisational
perspective.
The value of senior leader
secondments for Defence
When Warren King was seconded
to Cape York in 2015, he had
just completed his term as Chief
Executive of the Defence Materiel
Organisation. As the most senior
Australian Public Service employee
yet to participate in a secondment,
Warren personifies Defence’s
commitment to the Jawun
partnership. His ability to open
doors and influence people both
in community and within Defence
created immense shared value.
Warren worked with Bama
Services, a building and
landscaping organisation
that is part of the Cape York
Partnership. ‘In Cape York they
are very successful in encouraging
young people to complete
their education but there are
not enough jobs for them,’ said
Warren. ‘I was working on how to
develop their business so they can
employ younger people as they
move out of education.’
Given the nature of the
organisation, the majority of
the government’s procurement
contracts stem from Defence.
As Warren explained:
It turned out to be extremely
useful that I was up there
when the government’s
Indigenous procurement
policy was being finalised.
Both to input to government
about some of the
development of the policy
and secondly, to prepare
Bama Services to meet
relevant people, which will
give them an opportunity to
bid for these contracts when
they materialise.
Warren was able to guide Bama
through how Defence is structured,
how it tenders and how it
evaluates submissions, to prepare
it to win Defence work. ‘Being a
senior executive really was very
helpful as I could break through
barriers. I was able to go from
the Secretary down inside
the Department of Defence
and make connections.’
Warren proactively engaged with
local Defence agencies during
his secondment. He identified
opportunities for 51 Far North
Battalion Army and the Cairns
Naval Base to develop stronger
relationships with Bama. And
when it came to Warren’s attention
that a number of local children
had aspirations to join the
military but were precluded by
medical conditions, he engaged
his colleagues to investigate
opportunities for them to join the
Reserves. ‘This would mean that
once a year they would be able
to go up north and do some bush
work with the Army or some work
on a boat with the Navy.
So trying to link the employment
program with the military program
was pretty positive.’
On return from secondment,
Warren made a number of
presentations at the most senior
levels in Defence and across the
organisation. He said:
There was a very strong
response within Defence.
I was able to personalise my
own experience for them.
I was able to point out my
own reactions. I think it’s
very useful to have that
balance of senior executives
on secondment to do these
sorts of jobs. A), to support
the returning secondees
internally, who have an
ongoing interest in delivering
the organisation’s Indigenous
agenda; but B), to help break
down some of these barriers
more broadly.
33