The IT contracts continue to flow to multinational consultants Accenture for work on the technology platforms that will underpin the Government's aged care reforms, including the new Aged Care Act and Support at Home.
This week, The Saturday Paper reported that Accenture, Capgemini and Deloitte have earned $685 million on Government contracts for aged care reforms since the beginning of 2022.
Accenture was first commissioned to build the IT systems for the reforms on 1 January 2022. The initial 20-month contract for $18.1 million has been varied five times and is now worth more than $156 million.
Earlier this month, The Weekly SOURCE reported that Accenture had been awarded a new $289 million contract - the equivalent of $400,000 per day - to supply staff needed to build the digital systems required for aged care reforms - and a $10.5 million contract for specialist IT services.
Accenture has now been awarded another $275,000 contract that runs for three months. According to a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Aged Care, the contract is for "strengthening a workplace culture that can further support the capability uplift" of the Department.
"The Department is focused on the continued uplift and improvement of its ICT and data capabilities. This contract represents investment into this focus," the spokesperson said.
In the Federal Budget 2024, $1.2 billion was allocated over five years from 2023–24 for ICT infrastructure, not one cent of which was for aged care operators.
