News

Floodgates open for consultants in pandemic year

Multinational management consulting firms have enjoyed an extraordinarily good year in Canberra. Federal government spending on advice and services from the global outfits soared by hundreds of millions of...

BCG and McKinsey govt contracts double in 2020

The dollar value in government contracts awarded to Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey doubled in 2020, with both large US management consultant firms enjoying a sharp increase in federal...

Deloitte’s federal work jumps 35% in pandemic

The value of consulting giant Deloitte’s contracts with the Digital Transformation Agency increased by more than 1,000 percent in 2020 over the previous year, with the company’s overall government...

Let’s formalise a ‘Made in Australia’ Office

Australian companies might be concerned about an increasingly protectionist United States and the spectre of a newly issued Made in America presidential executive order, but the Australian Government is...

eSignatures are at risk as law update stalls

Australia’s corporate sector faces uncertainty and increased risk this week after the federal government failed to pass amendments that would confirm companies’ right to hold virtual-only meetings and to...

Push for second vaccine maker too late?

Pharmaceutical manufacturer IDT Australia is undertaking a feasibility study to assess the possibility of supplementing production of the COVID-19 vaccine in Australia. IDT will assess the possibility of using...

Why the rush? Online Safety Bill still not passed

The Online Safety Bill will not be passed by Parliament until May at the earliest, despite the rushed process behind the federal government’s controversial legislation. The Online Safety Bill,...

A cyber-savvy nation through reskilling

So great is the shortage of cybersecurity skills in Australia that organisations have no hope of recruiting the people they need and must instead resort to casting a wider...

Govt fails to meet own cyber standards: ANAO

None of the government entities recently examined by an Australian National Audit Office review have fully implemented the mandatory cyber security risk mitigation strategies developed eight years ago to...

Gig Guide: McGowan’s new innovation chief

The newly re-elected Premier of Western Australia Mark McGowan has appointed the member for Bunbury Don Punch as the state’s new Minister for Innovation and ICT. Mr Punch, the...

First NSW-built electric bus hits the street

The first locally manufactured electric bus began a two week trial in Sydney’s east Friday as the NSW government ramps up its plan to convert its entire bus fleet...

NSW net zero plan can be a ‘nation building’ win

The NSW government’s latest tilt at reducing the state’s emissions to net zero has the potential to become a grand scale nation building program. But without appropriate oversight, hundreds...

Ian Oppermann on govt AI assurance frameworks

Artificial intelligence experts will advise the NSW government on how the technology should be used by the state through an AI advisory committee revealed Wednesday. Initially the group will...

Wearables maker gets a Qld govt boost

Brisbane-based MedTech manufacturer WearOptimo, which is backed by the Australian National University (ANU), will produce devices in Australia after getting support from the Queensland government. The company makes small...