WA confirms Roche as shared services chief

The Western Australia Department of Treasury and Finance's mammoth shared services initiative received formal leadership late last year, it was revealed today, with acting executive director Brian Roche being permanently appointed to the position.

The appointment occurred in November after a merit-based selection process, according to a spokesperson for the department. Roche had been acting executive director since April 2007.

Although the position was advertised earlier in the year, picking an applicant had been previously delayed due to the Western Australian election in September.

Western Australia initiated the predominantly Oracle-based shared services project in 2003 to consolidate financial, procurement and HR back-office functions from agencies to three shared services centres in order to cut costs. However, the project's budget blew out and an auditor general's report slammed its progress. The deadline for completion was extended to 2013.

Roche's role within the Department of Treasury and Finance does not oversee the education and health shared services centres, although the three centres work closely together.

Although Western Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell toyed with the idea of shutting down the project, after consideration of a report by IT consultancy Quadrant, he decided to let it continue as long as it met its budget and implementation goals.