IPWEAQ UPDATES
ADAC AND THE BROADER ASSET MANAGEMENT LANDSCAPE
Mark Lamont Director, Information & Resources
IPWEAQ’s recent Asset Management Symposium provided a comprehensive overview of current asset management practices for local government. Many of the principles discussed within the presentations were closely aligned with those that have informed the Asset Design as Constructed (ADAC) consortium since its inception. IPWEAQ has had stewardship over the ADAC consortium for more than a decade. We have seen it grow in influence and number across those years. From a digital solution devised by a few Sunshine Coast councils, it is now twenty-three members strong and widely accepted as the national standard for asset data collection and storage. Over the last couple of years, the fastest expansion of the consortium has been into NSW, where Wollondilly, Shellharbour and Queanbeyan-Pallerang regional councils have joined Tweed Heads and Port Macquarie-Hastings to consolidate the uptake of ADAC in that state. Several more NSW councils have committed to come on board and are in advanced planning stages for their ADAC implementation. The ADAC Technical Reference Group has created deadlines
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and is moving forward with preparations for the next version of the schema, which will launch early in 2022. Contributions to the new version from some of the newer ADAC members expand the platform’s parameters and allow greater coverage of asset types to be incorporated. As a consequence of that work, councils can come on board in the future, knowing that neighbouring authorities have been working in their interests to bring elements specific to their local conditions into ADAC, making it more widely applicable. Despite this growth, the four original drivers of ADAC remain the vital components the schema manages. They are: Asset registration Asset valuation Maintenance management Renewals planning Compare these principles to the guideline expectations written into government asset management strategy. Public sector policy across all states has a sharp focus on the relationship between asset management and local government service provision. As such, the need to track the asset from construction to disposal is essential. For example, the direction indicated by Queensland’s Strategic Asset Management Framework and its guidelines are serviced through the ADAC drivers listed above. The strategic framework requires all departments to: • assess whether particular building assets are meeting service delivery needs • determine whether building assets are properly maintained and managed
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• evaluate the need for future replacement of assets • identify and plan for the disposal of surplus or underutilised building assets • quantify the cost of the services provided by the department and (if applicable) benchmark against other jurisdictions • offer improved coordination of assets from a whole-ofGovernment perspective. The emphasis when ADAC was developed was on the entire life cycle of the asset. It continues to provide a model for achieving accountability, the central goal of asset management policy. Every point on the list of policy requirements above is contained and addressed within the four elements that underpin the ADAC perspective. ADAC plays a specialist role in the wider strategic management of assets, enabling councils to adhere to policy guidelines more effectively by focusing on the asset from pre-construction to replacement or disposal. In this way, it fulfils policy expectations and compliments a wide variety of asset management practices that rely on the integrity of the data they receive. Any enquiries about ADAC can be addressed to Mark.Lamont@ ipweaq.com
