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Advisory

Program Governance Review

Know exactly where your governance stands.

Talk to us about a Program Governance Review Explore advisory
Steering committee meeting
Decisions · Reporting · Control
Overview

A Program Governance Review tests whether the governance around your program or portfolio is doing its job: decisions get made, risks get escalated and reporting reflects reality. Our consultants find where it is breaking down and put in a program governance framework your team can run.

Who it's for

Program sponsors, CIOs, transformation directors and PMO leads responsible for large or high-risk programs. It especially suits lean organisations without a large PMO that need governance they can sustain.

What we look at

Decision rights and accountability

Who decides what, and how fast.

Program governance structure

Steering committee membership, terms of reference and effectiveness.

Stage gates and investment approvals

Where investment is approved and work is allowed to proceed.

RAID management

How risks and issues are surfaced and escalated.

Reporting

Whether status reports reflect what is actually happening.

Benefits tracking

Progress against the original business case.

Vendor and partner governance

How vendors and delivery partners are governed.

Regulatory and compliance obligations

How obligations are built into the program.

What you get

A governance health assessment, with findings rated by severity and a recommended action for each.
One consolidated, de-duplicated scope where initiatives overlap.
A program charter and steering committee terms of reference.
A decision framework, RAID registers, a reporting cadence and a live tracker.
A prioritised, risk-rated roadmap.
A clean handover so your team can run the program.

Outcomes you can expect

Faster decisions

Everyone knows who decides what, so issues stop waiting for an owner.

Reporting you can trust

Sponsors and boards see real progress and risk, not green status reports.

Less duplicated effort

Overlapping initiatives run as one program with one scope and roadmap.

Risks caught earlier

Escalation paths mean problems surface while they can still be fixed.

A program your team can run

Governance keeps working after we hand over.

What is the proof?

A few examples of where an Advisory engagement has made a difference.

From Access database to cloud lakehouse

From Access database to cloud lakehouse

How Avocado migrated an Australian packaging manufacturer from Microsoft Access to a cloud lakehouse, with consistent QA records and automated reporting.

Read the case study
A governed, in-house alternative to Copilot

A governed, in-house alternative to Copilot

How Avocado built a private AI assistant for an Australian economics consultancy, with governance, access controls and built-in consulting workflows.

Read the case study
Laying the Foundation for Quality Assurance

Laying the Foundation for Quality Assurance

Avocado designed an enterprise testing framework and QA strategy for a state-owned water utility, with reusable artefacts, governance and full capability handover.

Read the case study
Taking the risk out of certificate renewals for a major public sector agency

Taking the risk out of certificate renewals for a major public sector agency

Avocado Consulting and 2Steps automated certificate retrieval, installation and verification for a large Australian public sector agency.

Read the case study
Voice AI Case Study: Momento Hospitality
Agentic AI

Voice AI Case Study: Momento Hospitality

See how a voice AI agent we built cut staff-handled calls by 75% and drove US$236K in monthly bookings across eight Sydney venues.

Read the case study
A national sports website rebuilt in four months, ready for the season

A national sports website rebuilt in four months, ready for the season

Avocado helped a subsidiary of Australia's largest telecommunications company deliver the biggest upgrade in its sports website's history

Read the case study
47,000 users across five divisions moved to cloud collaboration, on schedule

47,000 users across five divisions moved to cloud collaboration, on schedule

Avocado helped a major bank move around 47,000 users across five divisions onto a cloud-based collaboration service, in waves of 1,500 users

Read the case study
Practice management platform rolled out to more than 700 financial planning practices

Practice management platform rolled out to more than 700 financial planning practices

Avocado helped a leading wealth manager roll out a CRM and practice management platform to 700+ planning practices, integrated with core systems.

Read the case study
New credit card launched and card portfolio migrated, on an immovable deadline

New credit card launched and card portfolio migrated, on an immovable deadline

One of Australia's big four banks engaged Avocado to deliver a critically important program over 18 months.

Read the case study
How it works

Four steps, around four to six weeks

01

Initial conversation

A short call to understand your program and what is prompting the review.

02

Scoping and fixed quote

We agree scope, stakeholders, access and timing, and you receive a fixed price.

03

Review

Over four to six weeks, we interview sponsors, steering committee members and delivery leads, and review your governance artefacts: charters, terms of reference, RAID registers, status reports and benefits tracking.

04

Findings and handover

We present findings and recommendations to your sponsors, then hand over the governance framework, roadmap and tools your team needs to run the program.

Frequently asked questions

What is program governance?

Program governance is how a program is directed and controlled. It sets who makes decisions, how risks are escalated, how progress is reported and how benefits are tracked.

What is a program governance framework?

A program governance framework is the set of structures, roles and processes that govern a program. It typically includes a steering committee, decision rights, stage gates, RAID management, reporting and benefits tracking.

What does a good program governance structure look like?

A sponsor who owns the outcome, a steering committee with clear terms of reference, a program lead accountable for delivery, and defined escalation paths. It should be light enough that decisions move quickly.

How is program governance different from project management?

Project management delivers the work. Program governance sets the direction, approves investment, resolves issues projects cannot, and makes sure the program still delivers the benefits it was funded for.

How long does a Program Governance Review take?

Most engagements take four to six weeks, depending on the size of the program and how many initiatives are in scope.

Can it help with regulatory and compliance programs?

Yes. Many organisations face several regulatory reviews, findings and obligations at once, such as APRA prudential standards or AML/CTF requirements. We bring them into one governed program with clear ownership and reporting.

What happens after the review?

Your team runs the program using the charter, governance structures and roadmap we hand over. If you need delivery support, our Project Delivery team can help.

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A $95 billion ‘Big Bang’, delivered with certainty

For a major super fund
Deliver with certainty

Program losing momentum, or about to start a big one?

Talk to us about a Program Governance Review and get clear decisions, reporting and control your sponsors can trust.

Talk to us about a Program Governance Review