COMPUTER SYSTEMS

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police, representing the Minister for Transport, questions in relation to legacy computer systems.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: As the minister should be aware, a number of the state's major revenue systems such as water and sewerage, land tax, the Emergency Services Levy and the Natural Resources Management Levy rely on base data from the valuation/lands titles information systems, which are regarded as legacy systems written in an obsolete computing language, COBOL, up to 38 years old.

In addition, the number of personnel competent in these obsolete language skills is limited and they themselves are in their twilight years and the systems analysts responsible for the design of the systems have all but disappeared. My questions are:

1. Will the minister advise what funds, if any, were allocated in the 2007-2008 budget for the replacement of these systems and what progress has been made to date?

2. Will the minister advise what the total anticipated cost of replacing these systems will be?

3. What is the intended time frame for completing the project?

4. What preventative measures are currently being taken to avoid catastrophic failure of the systems and any consequential effect on the major revenue collection systems of the state?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his question. I will refer that on to the Minister for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure in the other place and bring back a response.