Roadmap

New DCP sets out Defence project priorities

The 2009 Defence Capability Plan (DCP) was released at July’s Defence+Industry Conference in Adelaide. This latest version of the DCP differs from previous incarnations in that it will be updated annually, and that it only covers funding and project timeframes for four years instead of the decade-long plans released roughly biennially in recent years. The government says this has been done to align the DCP with the forward estimates period and also with plans to move to a five-year White Paper cycle, but reportedly also because of the difficulties in making future budget predictions whilst in the midst of a financial crisis.

The 220-page document contains 110 projects or phases valued at more than $60 billion, compared with the 132 projects and phases in the 2006-2016 DCP. “For projects scheduled for first and or second pass approval between now and 2013, there is an unprecedented amount of information provided – some of which arose from consultation with the industry that was conducted by Defence following the Mortimer Review,” said new Minister for Defence, Personnel, Materiel and Science, Greg Combet in his address to the conference. “This includes for the first time ever a schedule for first pass approvals.”