BOM only “partly effective” in managing crucial assets

This is despite the 15,000 observation instruments being relied upon to form crucial industry and national security decisions.

Australia’s weather agency is only “partly effective” in managing its vast network of 15,000 observing assets, a new report has found.

The report from the nation’s Auditor General also found the Bureau of Meteorology’s arrangements to manage the life cycle of its observing network assets was also only “partly effective”.

Australian Water Brokers Association President Andrew Martin said while the bureau’s forecasts seemed as good or better than other agencies, “from a taxpayer point of view, given the sum of money involved it’s disappointing to see the results of the report”.

“The question for me is whether the forecasts are accurate enough to base operating decisions on,” Mr Martin said.

In the 2020-21 federal budget, the federal government increased the BOM’s overall funding to “ensure sustainability of the bureau”.

This included $225.6m over three years from 2021-22, and $143.7m a year thereafter to maintain a proactive “best practice” asset maintenance schedule.

In 2022, the bureau estimated its observing network instruments – which range from flood warnings, instruments that collect data below the sea surface and radars, to satellites and space weather instruments – totalled nearly 15,000 items of technology.

They form the basis for public weather services, specialists’ needs for industry and national security as well as climate records, and are relied upon to make crucial decisions.

Nationals Senator Perin Davey says the report is worrying. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Federal Opposition water spokeswoman Perin Davey said she was concerned by the report’s finding that the bureau wasn’t including the predicted costs of its asset management plans in its budget planning.

‘That’s really worrying because that has the potential to blowout budgets. Two years ago the Albanese Government gave them $230m to acquire all the flood gauges across the nation. I don’t have a problem with the BOM owning them but I do if they’re not maintaining them,” Ms Davey said.

“We’re talking about their (BOM’s) ability to forecast and predict, and that has an economic impact. We saw that in 2023 when they predicted we were going into an El Nino and everyone destocked and then it didn’t stop raining. That’s lives we’re talking about so I want far more confidence than “party effective” that the bureau is operating effectively.”

BOM chief executive Andrew Johnson said the bureau remained committed to the proactive management of its observing networks, “and providing Australians with world-class national weather, climate and water services”.

“The bureau agrees with the Auditor General’s recommendations as further contributions to the maturity of the bureau observing network asset management and operations, and has committed to relevant actions,” Dr Johnson said.

In its report, the Auditor General made four recommendations relating to updating and reporting against the BOM’s asset management framework and updating policies, among others, all of which were agreed to.

The audit was completed to assure the parliament the BOM was appropriately managing its assets.