The Baird Government will pay consultants almost $1 million in an attempt to stop IT projects blowing department budgets.
The NSW Government was repeatedly attacked in parliament last year over the huge $573 million cost of a failing software project that has caused chaos for TAFE enrolments and in public schools.
A Fairfax analysis of department contracts shows other big IT spenders are Transport NSW and Sydney Trains, which have spent $90 million in the past six months, and Family and Community Services, which has spent $55 million.
Boston Consulting will be paid $863,500 for four month's work to develop guidelines for IT projects.
This week, Skills Minister John Barilaro admitted he had apologised to TAFE staff who "had to endure" the controversial IT system, and flagged it may be scrapped.
Labor has called the Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR) project – which began a decade ago and is at least $50 million over budget, the largest waste of taxpayer funding in the Department of Education's history.
Boston Consulting will create a government-wide framework to "increase the proportion of ICT projects delivered on scope, on time and on budget" and "reduce risks from multi year, multi phase technology projects", the contract states.
But the chairman of Labor's Wastewatch Committee, Kogarah MP Chris Minns, said the consultants report will be "too little too late".
Mr Minns said the NSW Auditor General had repeatedly warned the NSW Government, from 2011, about problems with the LMBR.
He said the project would cost up to $1 billion by the time it was rolled out to all schools.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Better Regulation, Victor Dominello said: "Boston Consulting has commenced work reviewing current approaches in NSW and other jurisdictions. Its final report will provide recommendations to Government identifying areas of best practice across ICT project management including ensuring better value for taxpayer's money in all projects."
A year ago, the NSW Auditor General issued a report criticising the education department's oversight of LMBR, which was supposed to be finished by December 2014. It is yet to be rolled out to 90 per cent of schools.
