News

Qld adds $500m biorefinery to Gladstone development area

Australia’s first commercial aviation fuel biorefinery will be built in Queensland’s Gladstone Development Area, as renewable investments continue to pour into the region. The $500 million refinery is being...

Neurorights: the Chilean constitutional change

Towards the end of 2021, Chile became the first nation in the world to have a constitution in force that explicitly addresses the challenges of emerging neurotechnologies. Whilst this...

Home Affairs drops $20m on tech testing contractors

The Department of Home Affairs will spend at least $20 million on contractors to test its IT projects this financial year, including adding $4 million to one provider’s contract...

Govt’s digital passenger app gets scathing reviews

Home Affairs has said it is committed to improving its digitised version of the incoming traveller declaration after receiving scathing reviews from users since it was launched last month....

WA connected vehicle startup Fleetsu bought by US tech giant

Australian connected fleet management startup Fleetsu has been snapped up by US tech company Rand McNally, which targeted the local company’s potential to innovate the 166-year-old incumbent. The financial...

The balancing act that is internet governance

Engaging with the online world is a key priority for the Australian Government and it’s becoming more confident about how to regulate the internet, argues Australia’s Minister for Communications,...

Big milestone for QLD’s $4.7b green hydrogen hub

In another step towards transforming Gladstone into a green hydrogen hub, the Queensland government has declared that a $4.7 billion green hydrogen and ammonia facility has been given Coordinated...

Compliance levels low in bumper foreign investment year

Treasury performed fewer audits of foreign investors last year, moving instead to using outside firms to check compliance with rules for high risk and high value investments. The audits...

Ransomware, economic accelerator and patent box bills lapse

Legislation introducing a ransomware penalties regime, a $1.6 billion economic accelerator and the long-awaited patent box are among the bills which have now lapsed after failing to be passed...

Deloitte brought in to assist with GovERP project

Deloitte will be paid $6 million over the next year to assist with the substantial GovERP project delivering the “digital backbone” for the public sector, joining fellow big four...

Government tech is hard. If not the DTA, then what?

The digital transformation of government has proven difficult for Australia, particularly at the federal level. While some of the states are having some success, the federal government seems stalled,...