• Section 1 - Overview and Scope
• Part A - Project Management Approach
• Part B - Project Establishment and Governance
• Prioritisation
• Governance for Major and Smaller Projects
• Recordkeeping
• Project Implementation
• Section 2 -  Quality Assurance
• Section 3 - Authority and Compliance

Section 1 - Overview and Scope

(1) UNE’s Project Management Policy and the associated UNE Portfolio and Project Management Framework aims to support UNE Representatives to achieve desired project outcomes.

(2) Projects represent an investment by the University in future capacity and capability and as such are both critical to UNE’s success and are required to be conducted with due diligence to ensure accountability in the allocation of resources, realisation of benefits and management of risk.

(3) This Policy should be read in conjunction with the UNE Portfolio and Project Management Framework.

(4) All UNE Representatives and projects are required to comply with this Policy.

(5) Within this Policy:

1. Part A describes the project management approach at UNE; and
2. Part B introduces project establishment and the governance framework and provides reference to detailed information in the UNE Portfolio and Project Management Framework.

Part A - Project Management Approach

(6) UNE has adopted a project management lifecycle which includes the following stages – initiation, planning, execution and completion.

(7) Projects are to be managed consistent with the UNE Portfolio and Project Management Framework and may employ different techniques (e.g. agile or waterfall principles) as agreed with the Project Steering Group. In some circumstances, some projects may be managed using an alternative methodology with approval by the Director Governance and University Secretary.

Part B - Project Establishment and Governance

(8) All University projects will be aligned to a program and portfolio area and overseen by a steering committee and portfolio advisory committee (VC approved) with an Executive Sponsor.

Prioritisation

(9) Projects and project resources will be prioritised by steering or advisory committees and the Executive Sponsor based on strategic and operational priorities and availability of resources including approved budget allocation.

(10) A register of projects will be maintained indicating project name, project short description, project or program manager, project sponsor, status in the project lifecycle, and recordkeeping container references.

Governance for Major and Smaller Projects

(11) There are different expectations for project approval, management, oversight and progress reporting commensurate with the assessed level of project impact.

(12) A project may be considered ‘major’ on the basis of:

1. scale and complexity (e.g. technically difficult or large number of stakeholders or systems);
2. significance of financial / resource investment; and/or
3. impact (e.g. strategically critical, has critical deadlines and/or is high risk due to potential impact on key systems or functions).

(13) A smaller project will be considered such on the basis of:

1. being relatively smaller in scale and less complex in scope/delivery;
2. representing a relatively small financial or resource investment; and/or
3. having a medium to low risk profile.

(14) A major project will have a two stage approval process and will attract a higher expectation in terms of monitoring and reporting than a smaller project.

1. For a major project:
   1. initiation will require approval of both a concept brief and then a business case as per the PPM;
   2. the approval process will conform to agreed project approval delegations, including business case approval by the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer (or VC Committee) and the Finance and Infrastructure Committee and/or Council as required;
   3. major changes in project scope, budget, and schedule and/or benefits realisation will trigger a reporting requirement and will typically require a further approval consistent with delegated authorities; and
   4. reporting of major projects will be to the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer (or VC Committee) and the Finance and Infrastructure Committee and/or Council consistent with the Terms of Reference and delegations of those bodies.
2. For a smaller project:
   1. initiation of a small project will generally be managed within a larger program of work;
   2. monitoring and reporting will generally be at the program or business unit level; and
   3. changes in scope and schedule will be managed within program and budget parameters or would require approval from portfolio group and Executive Sponsor.

Recordkeeping

(15) Project managers and steering committees are responsible for ensuring that all UNE projects are allocated a Records Container (send request to records@une.edu.au) and that all project documentation including plans, approvals, registers, acceptance signoff and reporting etc is maintained in the UNE’s approved Records Management System.

(16) Project documentation is to include a reference to the relevant project records container and document number. A common file naming convention will assist with the implementation of recordkeeping and retrieval.

(17) All project steering and advisory committees are to ensure there is a records container allocated for the group (send request to records@une.edu.au) where minutes of meetings, business papers and related actions/correspondence are regularly maintained.

Project Implementation

(18) Planning and implementation of projects is to be done consistent with UNE compliance obligations, policies and delegations including budget, management of staff resources, procurement and quality acceptance of project outcomes.

(19) Where external parties are engaged in projects where they will have access to commercial in confidence information, the expectation is those parties would be subject to a non-disclosure agreement (available from legal@une.edu.au).

Section 2 -  Quality Assurance

(20) Projects will be subject to review of practices in accordance with this Policy.

(21) Portfolio and project steering committees are to undertake an annual self-review and be periodically peer reviewed.

Section 3 - Authority and Compliance

(22) The Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer, consistent with the Vice-Chancellor Functions Rule, makes this Policy.

(23) UNE Representatives must observe this Policy.

(24) This Policy is in effect as from the Effective Date.

(25) Previous project management policies are replaced and have no further authority from the Effective Date of this Policy.