The Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will conduct a public hearing this Friday 9 December as part of its inquiry into the Auditor-General's Report No.4 21/22 Defence's Contract Administration Defence Industry Security Program.
Witnesses from the Australian Industry Group, and Defence contractors Babcock Australasia and Leidos Australia will appear along with the Australian National Audit Office and the Department of Defence to discuss Defence's implementation of the Auditor-General's recommendations and suggested improvements to the program.
Chair of the Subcommittee, Mr Julian Hill MP, explained that "Ensuring security requirements are met right across the defence industry supply chain is of critical importance to Australia's national security. The Auditor-General raised serious concerns and Parliament is right to expect greater assurance from Defence. This is important both for current activities and also to give maximum confidence to allies and partners regarding technology transfer and the security of Australia's defence industrial base.
"After assessing submissions from Industry and Defence, now is the time to publicly examine in depth the extant of Defence's progress on reform of the DISP and to hear firsthand from Defence Industry of their experiences in the program."
Public hearing details
Date: Friday 9 December
Time: 9.15 am – 12.00 pm AEDT
Location: Committee Room 1R3 and via teleconference
The hearings will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live.
