Sustainment management in the Royal Australian Navy

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) like many industries faces ongoing challenges in the support of their assets, acquisitions, budgets and workforce management. Unlike other industries, the ADF is heavily affected by changes in Government, changes in Government policy direction, diversity of potential conflict scenarios and the manner in which budgets are set. This has led to a series of decisions being made that have addressed problems in the short term but have not adequately considered long term implications. More often than not, Government directives to deliver improved efficiencies come along with a corresponding budget cut, a direction to maintain services and capability without any real guidance on how this could or should be achieved and this continues to impact on the organisation long after the incumbent Government has left office. Resultant problem areas within the ADF maritime such as engineering and maintenance are covered by a number of Reports including the more recent Rizzo Report. The purpose of this paper is to look at the area of Sustainment Management within the ADF from a maritime perspective and the holistic view that defence industries need to consider in the development of their Support Solutions when entering into support arrangements such as Alliances and In- Service Support contracts.