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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Jasper Lindell

'HRIMS 2.0': Liberals sound warning over new HR upgrade project

The replacement project for a failed $77 million upgrade of the ACT's human resources and payroll system risks becoming "HRIMS 2.0" without greater commitments to transparency, the opposition has warned.

All reviews into the abandoned upgrade, known as HRIMS, should be published and the government must commit to releasing monthly progress reports on its replacement, the opposition said.

The Canberra Liberals will use a motion in the Legislative Assembly to apply fresh pressure to the government over the program, which the Auditor-General found was a "significant failure for the territory".

Peter Cain, the shadow assistant treasurer, said the failed upgrade was still clouded with mystery and the replacement program bore all the familiar markings to be a failure of the same magnitude.

"Special Minister of State Chris Steel and this Labor-Greens government have wasted tens of millions of dollars on a relatively simple project, and now he's asking us to trust him when he does it again," Mr Cain said.

"The Canberra Liberals want the Labor-Greens government to table and publish all their reviews and reports into the HRIMS program by the end of the month to ensure Canberrans have the full story of what went wrong with a simple HR and payroll system."

Mr Cain said the opposition also wanted Mr Steel to table monthly progress reports on the new program and assure Canberrans he was not leading them "into yet another budget black hole".

"Canberrans do not want the PC-HRM program to become HRMIS 2.0, and we need appropriate transparency to keep Minister Steel and his officials honest and accountable," he said.

"These programs represent a significant failure in public administration by this Labor-Greens government and Canberrans deserve better than this."

The Canberra Liberals' Peter Cain. Picture by Keegan Carroll

The government is expected to amend the Liberals' motion, but will commit to a further update to the Legislative Assembly.

Mr Steel last week told an Assembly inquiry no public servants had faced consequences over the abandoned project, which had "multiple failings at all levels".

"Our inclination at all stages has been to build capability within the ACT public service when it comes to managing complex ICT projects, not to take a slash and burn approach, of going after individuals," Mr Steel said on Thursday.

The ACT government last year decided to abandon the upgrade of its human resources computer system after a review found it was "deficient" from the start.

Mr Steel said in August it would have cost a further $140 million to complete the project.

Only one module of the program was ever delivered until it was terminated midway through 2023.

The ACT Auditor-General in December strongly criticised the handling of the project, finding it was a "significant failure for the territory".

Mr Steel in February apologised to the public for the project, which began in 2017 before Mr Steel was the responsible minister.

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