Carrying out a complete forensic and efficiency review of Defence Housing Australia.

Defence Housing Australia (DHA) is a Commonwealth Government Business Enterprise managing over $10 billion in housing assets, providing accommodation for around 18,000 Australian Defence Force members and their families.

KordaMentha was engaged by the Shareholder Departments to conduct a forensic and efficiency review of DHA's operations and financials. Defence Housing Australia ('DHA') is a Commonwealth Government Business Enterprise which manages in excess of $10 billion of housing related assets, providing quality accommodation for around 18,000 Australian Defence Force members and their families. KordaMentha was engaged by the Shareholder Departments to conduct a forensic and efficiency review of DHA. DHA provides housing and related property management services to members of the Australian Defence Force throughout Australia. 

The engagement’s key objectives were to conduct a forensic and efficiency review of Defence Housing Australia, through the:​

• review DHA's company strategy and structure;
• assessment of historical performance and financial position;
• forecast of financial performance;
• evaluation of the risk management framework.

How we helped

KordaMentha's approach included:

• Developing and refining the project scope in consultation with Shareholder Departments.
• Conducting in-depth operational and financial analysis through document reviews, workshops, and interviews.
• Identifying key trends, risk areas, and opportunities for improvement.
• Developing detailed recommendations to address immediate and long-term risks and opportunities.
• Reviewing findings with stakeholders and implementing agreed changes and efficiency initiatives.

The outcomes

A complete review of the housing program was undertaken, with governance and oversight frameworks reviewed in detail. The decision was made to adopt a more conservative approach to forecasting and cash management. We assisted DHA in developing a ground up model to provide a forecasting platform to ascertain a revised sales baseline. This tool was utilised to run sensitives against financial forecasts to better understand and manage their liquidity risk.