The Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) new website may have cost significantly more than initially reported. Following the launch of the redesigned site on October 22, the BOM faced backlash from users. In response, the agency made adjustments to the radar color scheme last week and plans to implement further changes in the coming weeks.

A BOM spokesperson stated that the new website interface cost $4.1 million. However, documents from Australian government tenders suggest that this figure may only represent a fraction of the total expenses. The government awarded Accenture Australia a contract valued at $78 million to develop the website's Content Management System (CMS), which includes the necessary software and digital infrastructure for the site. This contract was originally valued at $31.3 million and is set to run from August 2019 to 2027.

Sources indicate that the involvement of additional contractors working alongside Accenture could push the total cost of the website's development to as much as $150 million. Other government tenders related to BOM IT projects, including cloud programs and international data security, are valued at approximately $30 million each, though it remains unclear if these are connected to the website redesign.

During a recent interview, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt was asked if the expenditure on the website upgrade was justified. He refrained from directly answering, instead emphasizing the importance of the BOM as a reliable source of information. "It is really important that taxpayers and all Australians have access to reliable information from the Bureau," he said. Watt acknowledged that the BOM is responding to community feedback and has plans for further improvements.

The BOM has been asked for clarification regarding the total cost of the website's development, including both front-end and back-end work, but has not yet provided a response. On Monday, Matt Collopy, the BOM's general manager of environmental prediction services, reiterated that the $4.1 million figure is accurate. He stated, "The figure that we put out publicly, that this redesign costs $4.1 million, is accurate," and dismissed the higher estimates reported by various media outlets as "not accurate in terms of the cost of designing this new website."

The new website is part of a broader initiative aimed at enhancing the agency's resilience and security. This IT transformation program, known as Robust, has been ongoing for seven years and has cost $866 million. It was initiated following cyberattacks and outages experienced by the BOM in 2015 and 2016.