News

What Australia can learn from SBIR

Microsoft was founded in 1975, and Apple and Genentech in 1976. This strong signal of a shift in the locus of innovation away from large firms – like IBM...

SA embraces new industry regime

The South Australia government has embraced wholesale changes proposed in a root and branch review of the state’s industry policies as part of an ambitious plan to triple economic...

Shorten’s future ready wages pitch

Australia’s wages system needs to be “renovated” to help prepare for technology change, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said, as he positioned the upcoming election as a “referendum on wages”....

Encryption troubles will ‘normalise’

It is a challenging time right now to be an Australian cyber security company following the passage of the controversial encryption legislation last year. The irony, according to AustCyber...

Salesforce offers $70M Australia fund

American tech giant Salesforce has launched a $70 million-plus venture capital fund in Australia, but funding will only go towards startups in the company’s own “ecosystem”. The $US50 million...

Melbourne rejects Apple at Fed Square

Melbourne City Council has rejected Apple’s “completely undercooked” application to demolition part of Federation Square to make way for a “global flagship” store after receiving more than a thousand...

Alarm at ACCC takedown changes 

Proposed changes to copyright takedown laws in Australia are “fundamentally at odds with long-standing international practice” and would put local tech companies at a disadvantage, according to StartupAus. Recommendation...

First global talent visa is issued

There has been movement in the startup stream of the government’s struggling Global Talent Scheme, with Queensland-based Gilmour Space Technologies becoming the first to be granted a visa under...

Digitising policies for a new century

Converting information from a Word or PDF document into a website sounds like no big deal. But when it’s the final report of the Banking Royal Commission and there...

CDR privacy risk underestimated

The federal government had “severely underestimated” the privacy risks of the Consumer Data Right, even as it pushes to complete an inquiry process and pass the legislation before the...

Electric vehicles: Too little, too late

The government’s one-page commitment to develop an electric vehicles strategy, without any new policies, is “too little, too late” as Australia risks missing out on significant opportunities, according to...

New biofoundry is only the start

The NSW Chief Scientist Hugh Durrant-Whyte last month unveiled $2.5 million in funding support to establish a Genome Foundry at Macquarie University – a so-called ‘biofoundry’. Australia does not...

HyperloopTT seeks govt investment

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) has requested support from the federal government, with hopes it will open the door to introduce Hyperloop transportation trials to Australia. The company has sought...

Labor’s ASIC FinTech WA pledge

Labor will fund new ASIC innovation resources to support FinTechs in Western Australia if it wins the upcoming federal election in order to stem the flow of companies relocating...