Headquarters Joint Operations Command — Phase 6 Review

Client: Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQ JOC), Australian Defence Force
Period: 2009
Support: Defence Science and Technology / internal HQ JOC Review Committee
Focus: Evaluation, organisational effectiveness and command and control

In 2009, IGOR was engaged to conduct the Phase 6 Review of Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQ JOC), supporting Defence Science and Technology and working with an internal HQ JOC review committee. The review represented a major assessment of Australia’s newly established joint operational headquarters: a purpose-designed facility created to enable the Australian Defence Force to conduct operations through an integrated, joint command structure.

HQ JOC represented a significant change in the way the Australian Defence Force organised and conducted command and control. Rather than operating through separate service-based headquarters, the new organisation was designed to bring the relevant elements of Defence together within a single integrated operational headquarters. The headquarters had been established from the ground up, including a purpose-designed physical facility and the systems, technology, personnel and organisational arrangements required to support its function.

The Phase 6 Review was therefore not simply an assessment of whether the new building was functioning. It examined whether the headquarters as a whole was operating as intended: whether it had achieved the required level of integration across Defence, and whether it was effective and efficient within the Australian Defence Force’s command-and-control arrangements.

IGOR designed and conducted the review across the multiple dimensions required to assess such a complex organisation. This included examination of command and control arrangements, organisational structures and roles, people and workforce arrangements, communications and information technology, the functional design of the facility, and the supporting arrangements required for the headquarters to operate effectively.

The review also considered whether the physical and organisational environment supported the headquarters’ wider operational role. This included the adequacy of facilities, information and communications systems, meeting and collaboration spaces, and the security arrangements necessary to support interactions with Australian, allied and international personnel.

A comprehensive evidence-gathering program combined structured interviews and questionnaires with analysis of the headquarters’ operating arrangements. This enabled the review team to examine both the formal design of the headquarters and the experience of those operating within it, identifying where the intended integrated model was working effectively and where gaps, constraints or unintended effects had emerged.

The work required IGOR to understand HQ JOC as a system rather than as a collection of separate functions. Command arrangements, people, technology, information, physical infrastructure, security and organisational processes all contributed to the headquarters’ ability to perform its operational role. The review therefore examined how these elements interacted and whether, collectively, they were producing the intended command-and-control capability.

The Phase 6 Review culminated in a comprehensive report of the findings and recommendations, providing Defence with an independent assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the newly established headquarters and the extent to which the significant organisational and infrastructure investment had delivered the intended joint operational capability.

IGOR’s contribution was to provide a whole-system evaluation of a newly established joint command capability — assessing whether its people, organisation, technology, infrastructure and operating arrangements were working together to deliver effective and integrated command and control.