News

Report urges facial ID transparency

The federal government should be more transparent about its use of facial recognition technology and work more closely with the private sector in development ICT tools for law enforcement,...

Apple Fed Square store cancelled

The Victorian government’s plan for a “flagship” Apple store at Federation Square are over after Heritage Victoria rejected an application to demolish part of the Melbourne public space. The...

NSW startups get $500k cyber boost

The NSW Cyber Security Network (NSWCSN) will be handing out money vouchers to cyber security startups and SMEs to work with selected NSW universities on cyber security research, as...

An innovation shy Shorten reply

Shadow industry minister Kim Carr spent Wednesday chiding his government counterpart – the Minister for Industry, Science and Research Karen Andrews – because she “couldn’t even get the word...

BERD fell almost 30% in three years

The research and development tax incentive is in “free fall”, the Opposition has said, with business R&D spending falling by nearly 30 percent in just three years. The federal...

No changes to AA bill before election

The federal government’s controversial encryption laws will remain unchanged until after the upcoming election after the Opposition’s amendments remained stalled in the Senate. The parliamentary committee tasked with scrutinising...

Thanks a lot, we look like idiots

The tech sector was dismayed by the passage of the Assistance and Access bill on the chaotic last sitting day of 2018. The industry had been blind-sided by the...

Radical overhaul is Gladys’ legacy

Gladys Berejiklian’s structural overhaul of the NSW public service is underpinned by a radical rethinking of how the state allocates resources and how it delivers services. It is a...

Scale-ups are the new Qld priority

Helping startups to scale-up is one of the fresh priorities the Queensland state government has outlined as part of its new Advance Queensland blueprint, Building our Innovation Economy –...

Labor caves on social media laws

On the last Parliamentary sitting day of 2018, the federal government and Opposition combined to rush through highly complex and controversial technology-focused legislation, despite widespread criticisms and concerns from...

Another haircut for R&D tax scheme

The government has not provided any clarity on the research and development tax incentive in the federal budget, but appears to have sliced a further $1.35 billion from the...

$50m cut to key NISA initiatives

The federal government has slashed $50 million from two of its “flagship” initiatives launched as part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda. The 2019-20 budget found “efficiencies” of...

Ideas boom is cast adrift: Budget

Josh Frydenberg’s first budget delivers a nominal return to surplus next financial year. But to get there, the Treasurer has killed off any residual attachment this government had to...

Health Record gets $200m boost

The controversial My Health Record service has been given a $200 million funding boost in the federal budget, with a number of other tech-driven delivery platforms also getting a...