Northern Territory Auditor-General's Office, February 2023 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Tabled Paper 772
Tabled Papers for 14th Assembly 2020 -; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2023-02-14
Tabled by the Speaker
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
English
Tabled papers
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
application/pdf
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/898837
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/898851
Auditor-General for the Northern Territory February 2023 Report Page 98 of 131 Youth Justice Facility cont DIPL initially presented 4 sites for consideration. The first preferred site (30 Tivendale Road, Berrimah) was announced in February 2018, however was subsequently disregarded on the basis of planning scheme considerations, which included future residential planning with a new primary school nearby. A second site (125 McFarland Road, Pinelands), also one of the initial 4 preferred options, was then announced 6 months later in August 2018. This site was subject to rezoning consent, which was subsequently declined in March 2019. Considerable public objection was received regarding this location. In April 2019, an alternative site review was performed and an additional 7 sites were assessed. The final site (498 Taylor Road, Holtze), a greenfield site, located adjacent to the current Darwin Correctional Centre, was selected as the approved location for the new Darwin Youth Justice Centre in July 2020. The Darwin Youth Justice Centre Site Selection Question and Answers publication provides the rationale behind the selection of the Holtze site. The factsheet advises The site is a discreet, non-residential location surrounded by dense vegetation which is a suitable for new Youth Justice Centre. With reference to the design and location of a youth detention facility, the Royal Commission provided A youth detention facility should not look, feel or be designed like an adult prison, nor should it be located on the same site as or near an adult prison. Landscaping design considerations were included to address the visual aspects of the site location and to obscure sight of the adult prison. Notwithstanding the final selection of the land site process taking nearly 2.5 years to finalise, TFHC staff advised no additional design costs had been incurred due to the changes. This was also documented in the Darwin Youth Justice Centre Site Selection Question and Answers document. The consultant identified that not having access to the site directly impacts their landscaping concept and the spatial arrangement of the buildings (as these are finalised during the 15% to 25% design phases) and had the potential to result in redrawing or a disruption in the target timeframe. The 15% concept design was submitted in October 2019. Procurement Once the land site section had been close to finalisation, and with technical drawings complete, the tender process for the construction commenced. The building contract for the Darwin Youth Justice Facility was advertised as a Request for Tender (RFT) consistent with the Tier 5 procurement requirements in the NTG Procurement Rules. Management advised that, due to time limitations, a Future Tender Opportunity was not lodged which represents non-compliance with the Procurement Rules. DIPLs Infrastructure, Investment and Contracts division used the design documentation and the estimated cost (as determined by the Quantity Surveyor) to prepare the RFT. The RFT was initially advertised for a 4 week period, subsequently extended to 8 weeks (with amendments to the technical drawings being required) and a closure date in May 2020. At the time of preparing the RFT, $55.7 million (GST inclusive) remained committed for the construction phase of the project.