Australian deep tech inventors have given the world wifi, Google Maps, cochlear implants and the goon bag, but a new report into the state of play for the sector suggests that while there’s no shortage of ideas, that potential is being stifled by limited support from venture capital, industry, and government. Pioneering deep tech incubator… Read more »
The Greens party, which received one in every eight primary votes (12.25%) at the last federal election, want a slice of the fortunes of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, proposing a “big tech tax” as Australia gears up to head to the polls in the coming months. Greens communications spokesperson senator Sarah Hanson-Young… Read more »
The federal government will adopt all 11 recommendations of the 2024 Diversity in STEM review, industry and science minister Ed Husic has confirmed. Husic surprised the crowd at Southstart in South Australia in announcing the government’s long-awaited response to the Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review, chaired by Cicada Innovations CEO Sally-Ann Williams, who was… Read more »
Australia has banned the use of Kaspersky Lab products across government, mandating the popular antivirus suite be removed from federal government systems. Since 2017, Russia-based cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky Lab has faced a slew of international bans over perceived risks to national security – namely that the Kremlin could hold sway over the organisation and its… Read more »
Corporate and and financial services the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is seeking feedback on its new regulatory guidance for the buy now pay later (BNPL) sector New laws offering increased protections for consumer users of BNPL kick in from June 2025, treating BNPL as a credit product. That means BNPL providers will need… Read more »
Australia is “virtually giving [its] world-class science away for free” according to the nation’s industry and science minister, as a panel of experts reviews the country’s struggling Research and Development (R&D) system. The independent review by four industry experts, announced in December and led by Australian-born Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, released a discussion paper on Wednesday as… Read more »
Battery storage tech startup Allegro Energy has scored a $1.85 million federal government grant to bring its battery technology to mass production. The Newcastle-based startup is one of five early stage tech companies funded under the $400 million Industry Growth Program. Allegro Energy has developed water-based Redox Flow Batteries (RFB) to store renewable energy. The… Read more »
Large social media companies should have to proactively remove harmful content from their platforms, undergo regular “risk assessments” and face hefty fines if they don’t comply, according to an independent review of online safety laws in Australia. The federal government this week released the final report of the review conducted by experienced public servant Delia… Read more »
DeepSeek, the hedge fund-backed Chinese version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has been prohibited on Australian government-issued systems and devices following a risk assessment by the Department of Home Affairs. Department secretary Stephanie Foster issued a Protective Security Policy Framework direction on Tuesday saying “the use of DeepSeek products, applications and web services poses an unacceptable level… Read more »
Five Australian startups have scored $3.6 million in Moon to Mars supply chain capability grants as part of NASA’s ambitions to explore beyond the chunk of rock orbiting 384,400km from Earth. South Australian company entX scored $1 million to develop a radioisotope heater unit. The unit will help payloads withstand the extreme low temperatures on… Read more »
An independent review is underway into “lessons learned” from the process enabling a $940 million deal for US firm PsiQuantum to attempt to build the world’s first utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane, as well as how potential conflicts of interest were managed, newly tabled documents reveal. The documents, released to the Senate late last year,… Read more »
Canberra has a new think tank for tech policy founded by three women to offer advice on the way forward in a digital world. The Tech Policy Design Institute (TPDi) bills itself as Australia’s first non-partisan, independent think tank focused on best practice technology policy. Its cofounders, Johanna Weaver, Zoe Jay Hawkins and Sunita Kumar, said… Read more »
The federal government will make another $3 billion equity investment into the National Broadband Network (NBN) to national fibre-to-the node (FTTN) network as Labor and the Coalition begin campaigning ahead of an election due by May. NBN Co will contribute more than $800 million to the plan to upgrade around 622,000 homes and businesses nationally… Read more »
The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) has gone into Christmas shopping mode, investing nearly $50 million in two days in two tech companies, today announcing $22.5 million for 12-year-old sovereign cloud data security company Vault Cloud. The equity investment comes just 24 hours after leading a $50 million raise for Adelaide IoT and satellite maker… Read more »
The federal government’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund has made its third investment, tipping $25 million to lead a $50 million raise by Internet of Things (IoT) satellite builder Myriota. It’s the first raise in four years by the Adelaide space tech startup since former PM Malcolm Turnbull was among the backers of a $28 million… Read more »
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