Triple 0 tech upgrade two years late, $17.48m over budget

Delays plagued two projects at Victoria’s under-fire triple-zero system as details of a $10m budget blowout can be revealed.

Taxpayers have been slugged almost $15 million more than originally budgeted for an upgrade of the Victoria’s failing triple-0 dispatch system, it has been revealed.

The upgrade of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority’s computer aided dispatch system was originally expected to cost $2.88m.

But by time it was finished in July last year, two years late, the project’s cost blew out to $17.48m.

Details of the project, needed to “mitigate underlying system and cybersecurity risks”, have been published on the government’s IT Dashboard website.

The much needed upgrade came years after the Andrews Government was warned about critical staff shortages just weeks before technical support for the system was due to end.

A separate project “to provide ESTA with better workforce insights and improve talent” has blown out from $1.54m to $2.34m according to the Dashboard website.

The Capability and Performance Project is also more than seven months late, with the government blaming “resource constraints” for the delay.

The project was due to be completed by August 2021.

The upgrade of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority’s computer aided dispatch system was originally expected to cost $2.88m.

Since then at least 12 Victorians have tragically died waiting on hold for triple-0.

A report following a review of deaths linked to call delays, led by former police chief commissioner Graham Ashton, was expected to be delivered last month.

A government spokesperson said while $2.8m was allocated for the CAD upgrade, ESTA revised the approach and scope of the work.

More funding was given to the project.

“ESTA’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system underpins the triple-0 service, and is continuously upgraded to meet the community and agency requirements,” she said.

Shadow Minister for Emergency Services, Brad Battin said Daniel Andrews’ mismanagement was placing Victorian lives at risk.

“Whilst Victorians are dying on hold or for help that never arrives, Daniel Andrews continues to botch critical triple-zero upgrades.”

“Is it any wonder why dispatch benchmarks are being missed when the dispatch system is in chaos?

“Labor knew of issues in triple-zero in 2016 but did nothing. Their failure to act is costing Victorian lives.

“Daniel Andrews simply cannot be trust to fix the triple-zero crisis he has caused. Only a change of Government will get triple-zero working again.”

Last week the Herald Sun revealed the state government had spent more than $15 million on consultants for the troubled hotline.

Critics said the money should have been used to fix the critical call taker shortage.

Dozens of reviews into the service were conducted since 2014 including numerous looking into the plagued call taker and dispatch system.

The government has announced it would deploy an additional 120 triple-zero operators in a desperate bid to combat the call taking crisis.

A second review into ESTA, by inspector-general for emergency management Tony Pearce, has also been launched.