Payroll problems eclipse Queensland budget

[EMBEDDEDThe Queensland government has unveiled a raft of moderate-sized technology projects in its state budget handed down last week, says Delimeter.

However, all are dwarfed by a substantial tranche of funding allocated towards the highly public problems suffered by its disastrous payroll systems implementation at Queensland Health.

The project was initially kicked off in 2007 as a replacement for the department's previous ageing HR system, with the government inking a $6.19 million contract with IBM for the replacement system, to be based on software provided by German giant SAP.

According to ZD Net, as the Queensland government pledges more cash for IT projects, the state's shadow ICT minister is calling for better project accountability to avoid bungles and blowouts like the catastrophic Queensland Health payroll system.

“The Queensland government spends $1.3 billion on ICT each year, and I can't see any real accountability until something goes wrong,” says Ros Bates, Queensland's shadow minister for government services, building industry and ICT.

"We need to review how the government undertakes management in all of its projects," Bates added, calling for a centralised reporting authority for ICT projects.