Million-dollar variations continue in aged care’s costly IT transformation journey

An $18 million ‘error’ is the latest financial concern to arise from the Department of Health and Aged Care’s digital transformation journey following the revelation that Accenture’s contract to build the Government Provider Management System (GPMS) was overstated and only corrected six months after the work was completed. 

Any savings from the correction were quickly snapped up, though, as another contract with the IT service management company received a $41 million variation on the same day. 

Accenture’s partnership with the department stretches back to late 2022 when it secured an $18.1 million contract to help build the GPMS on a Salesforce platform. 

The GPMS, launched on April 3, 2023, was introduced to replace the 20-year-old National Approved Provider System (NAPS) and streamline how aged care providers interact with government systems. 

However, its development and rollout has faced hurdles and it is being released in stages with ongoing enhancements planned through to at least July 1, 2025, when the new Aged Care Act takes effect. 

While there is no concrete evidence as to why the GPMS rollout has experienced so many delays, it’s likely that the complexity of integration, scope and scale of the work and the constant evolution of aged care reform have contributed.

These delays ultimately saw costs balloon. The contract period, which began on January 1, 2023, was also extended until September 30, 2024. 

According to InnovationAus.com, this resulted in the department paying Accenture an additional $44 million over the final seven months of the contract, resulting in $157 million worth of expenses. 

This is in addition to a separate $54.8 million contract signed in 2022 for Accenture to support the transition from the NAPS to the GPMS.

Both contracts received contrasting amendments as of March 27, 2025, with the ‘administrative corrections’ showcasing the unpredictability of software contracts. 

Just under $17.9 million was wiped off the GPMS Development contract, bringing that contract back down to $139.1 million.

Conversely, an additional $41.7 million was added to the 10-month contract for the ‘Provision of the Extended National Approver Provider System – GPMS Build Migrate Transition’. It totalled $54.9 million after the original contract was signed for $11.5 million.

That is a combined $164.4 million more than what Accenture was initially contracted for. Those variations are still far less than the ongoing $289.4 million contract for Accenture to deliver ICT transformation through contractors between July, 2024, and June, 2026.

InnovationAus.com stated that it contacted the Department of Health and Aged Care for more information on the variations, however, it declined to comment due to caretaker conventions. Caretaker conventions will be in place until a new government is confirmed following the May 3 federal election.