News

APS review response ‘totally inadequate’: Labor

The Opposition has labelled the government response to the Thodey review of the public sector as “weak” and “inadequate”, with key recommendations like the scrapping of the staffing cap...

Edward Santow on AI and human rights

Existing laws must be better enforced and regulatory gaps filled in order to ensure that new technologies like artificial intelligence don’t infringe on human rights, according to Human Rights...

Privacy reform is overdue and too slow

A significant review of the Privacy Act is “long overdue” but may be already out of date by the time it is finally completed in 2021, according to senior...

Adam Gilmour is on a mission

A non-binding statement of intent and cooperation doesn’t sound like it would carry much weight. But when it’s a small Queensland rocket startup seeking customers for its first commercial...

Digital disruption the APS should have seen

Canberra’s mandarins must be going into Christmas wondering what just happened; major departments have disappeared (merged) and secretaries sacked with more changes to come. However, the signposts were there...

Govt digital ID gets more money

The federal government’s troubled digital identity project has been handed a further $6 million, as concerns about spiralling costs and delays continue. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg released the Mid-Year Economic...

MYEFO: Robodebt an ‘unquantifiable’ risk

The federal government has acknowledged its trouble-plagued robodebt scheme is an “unquantifiable risk” to its coffers and announced a range of new tech-focused projects as part of the Mid-Year...

Visa system gets $30m check-up

The federal government is to spend more than $30 million to improve the current visa processing technologies after delaying its move to privatise the system until next year. Treasurer...

$9m pledged to combat 5G misinformation

The federal government will spend $9 million conducting a public awareness campaign on the safety of 5G technology in order to combat the spread of misinformation on social media....

Rachel Noble is new ASD Director-General

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison has appointed the current Australian Cyber Security Centre chief Rachel Noble as the first woman to lead a major Australian spy agency. Ms Noble...

Gov’t responds to Thodey review

The federal government has earmarked $15 million to pay for a rapid planning phase to transform the public sector as part of its response to the landmark Thodey review,...

BioTech is hardest hit by R&D changes

The Life Sciences industry in Australia will be hit disproportionately hard by proposed changes to the R&D Tax Incentive, putting smaller companies at risk and threatening the sector’s ability...

High Speed Rail in East Asia; a primer

Bored with the interminable discussion about High-Speed Rail (HSR) in Australia? Most South East Asian countries are having the same debate. The major countries in the region are heavily...

‘Heart’s not in it’: Platform review reactions

The government’s response to the competition watchdog’s inquiry into digital platforms would lead to a “backlog of policy work” heading into the new year, with the Opposition criticising the...