News

Editorial: Toward a grand ambition

As Australian voters head to the polls on Saturday to elect a new federal government, they will have a clear choice between Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s stay-the-course, steady-as-she-goes pitch...

Election promises get science heavy

Science policy is not usually the issue on which Australia turns would be an understatement. But at the 2019 election, the science discussion has been surprisingly robust – especially...

US-China spat moves to science

Escalating economic and geopolitical competition between the US and China has sharpened this past week, manifested in a raft and new trade tariffs and increasingly hostile rhetoric from President...

Gig debate needs a wider view

The debate about regulation in the gig economy needed to move away from a focus on how workers are classified and towards a broader approach that ensures individuals were...

Labor on startup capital gains issues

Labor has been urged to consider the impact of its planned changes to the capital gains tax on the Australian tech sector and whether a startup exemption is needed...

Digital skills gets $5m, new focus

Labor has rounded out its campaign-long focus on skills and capability development with a $5 million pledge to establish a Digital Skills Centre of Excellence. It would seek a...

Construction tech takes its pulse

A report into the state of technology in the Australian construction industry has pointed out the sector faces numerous regulatory and compliance challenges. The report from Procore, a cloud...

Mirvac rebirths a technology precinct

Mirvac and its consortium partners, AMP Capital, Sunsuper and Centuria Property Funds have opened the doors to the first two buildings of its revamped tech and innovation precinct at...

Gig economy needs state action

The Victorian Government could “fill the democratic void” in gig economy regulation left by the “inertia” at the federal level, according to a submission to a Victorian inquiry from...

Husic flags human capital investment

Opposition digital economy spokesman Ed Husic says that if Labor wins this Saturday’s federal election, its focus will be more on the development of human capital – building skills...

David Walker on China and tech

As China’s economic power grows, its cultural power will also grow, together with a desire to project that cultural power, according to long-time China watcher and the inaugural BHP...

The trust crisis in web standards

New research from CSIRO’s Data61 unit has found that even the most popular and trusted websites are using chains of third-party scripts and services hidden from end users that make...

Competition wished into existence?

Anyone who attends the ACCC and Australian Energy Regulator (AER) annual regulatory conference is struck by the existential dilemma that afflicts competition regulators. Their economic world view is that...

New funds for TAFE tech places

Federal Labor has promised to provide 5,000 free TAFE places for information technology and digital courses if it wins the May 18 election, giving the Australian community the “skills...