Climate Tech

The National Reconstruction Fund’s 1st investment is $40 million for a stake in a 40-year-old mining industry manufacturer

- November 19, 2024 3 MIN READ

Last week the industry and science minister Ed Husic stood in front of Australia’s tech titans at the National Tech Summit, telling them the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund was about to announce its first investments. Today Husic delivered on the promise, announcing $40 million for a manufacturer in Queensland. The funds went to Toowoomba-based… Read more »

Politics

Australia will force tech platforms to have a ‘digital duty of care’ to reduce online harms

- November 14, 2024 4 MIN READ

In an escalation of its battle with big tech, the federal government has announced it plans to impose a “digital duty of care” on tech companies to reduce online harms. The announcement follows the government’s controversial plans to legislate a social media ban for young people under 16 and impose tighter rules on digital platforms… Read more »

Mark Zuckerberg
AI/Machine Learning

Meta ignores its own policy to let the military use its AI platform, Llama

- November 12, 2024 4 MIN READ

Meta will make its generative artificial intelligence (AI) models available to the United States’ government, the tech giant has announced, in a controversial move that raises a moral dilemma for everyone who uses the software. Meta last week revealed it would make the models, known as Llama, available to government agencies, “including those that are… Read more »

Tim Cook, Apple CEO
Business

The ATO said it has ‘issues with the tech sector’ as report reveals Apple’s taxable income is just 4% of local revenue

- November 8, 2024 3 MIN READ

Australian and international technology companies are among more than 1,200 organisations which did not pay tax in the 2022-23 financial year, according to an Australian Taxation Office (ATO) report. The ATO’s tenth corporate tax transparency report, released last Friday, showed around 30% of the 3,985 entities that lodged tax returns for 2022–23 did not pay any… Read more »

Politics

An under 16s ban on social media is coming to Australia

- November 7, 2024 5 MIN READ

The federal government is looking to take on big tech companies like Meta, owners of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, TikTok and Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), and possibly YouTube, with a social media ban for children under 16. Prime minister Anthony Albanese and communications minister Michelle Rowland today revealed plans for legislation to be introduced… Read more »

Satellite Orbiting Earth
Politics

The Australian government has killed off a $7 billion military satellite project, increasing the risk of cyber attacks

- November 6, 2024 3 MIN READ

In a significant blow to Australia’s defence capabilities, the federal government is cancelling what would have been the nation’s largest-ever space project: a $7 billion military satellite communications system. The decision was confirmed in a press statement on Monday. It comes just 18 months after the Albanese government gave the green light to the ambitious… Read more »

Tin Alley ventures
Politics

Breakthrough Victoria posts $3 million loss

- November 4, 2024 3 MIN READ

The Victorian government’s controversial $2 billion venture capital fund, Breakthrough Victoria, posted a $3 million loss in its third year of operation. The funding body, which saw several directors depart in 2024, with CEO Grant Dooley also heading to the exit after just three years, copped a $360 million haircut in the Victorian budget earlier… Read more »

Alastair Macgibbon
Cyber security

Tech giants are ‘wilfully blind towards criminality on their sites’ says Australia’s former cybersecurity boss

- November 1, 2024 3 MIN READ

Social media companies are being “contemptuous” to the Australian people and have done “nothing” to help protect their users from scams and crimes, according to former government cyber security tsar Alastair MacGibbon. MacGibbon, who after a 15-year career with the Australian Federal Police served as special adviser to the Prime Minister on Cyber Security and… Read more »

Politics

New teen accounts on Instagram are a welcome step, but real ‘peace of mind’ requires more

- September 19, 2024 4 MIN READ

As Australia and other countries debate the merits of banning kids under 14 from social media, Meta has announced a significant “reimagining” of teenagers’ experience of Instagram. These new “Teen Accounts” will be set to private by default, have the maximum content and messaging restrictions possible, pause notifications at night, and add new ways for… Read more »

baby with iphone
Politics

The Australian government is cracking down on kids using social media

- September 10, 2024 3 MIN READ

The Albanese government will introduce legislation this term to enforce a minimum age for children to access social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make the formal announcement on Tuesday. This follows a discussion at last Friday’s national cabinet meeting, at which all states and territories, as well as the Commonwealth, committed to tackling what… Read more »

Tom Cruise
Politics

The Australian government is threatening quantum founders with 10 years in jail if they export it – even stuff that doesn’t exist – without permission

- August 30, 2024 3 MIN READ

The Australian quantum sector will now face harsh criminal penalties if it shares information or technology, even accidentally, with individuals from overseas after quantum technology was brought under the export control scheme. The Department of Defence unveiled the first changes to the Defence and Strategic Goods List in three years, with quantum computers officially added.… Read more »

Abigail Bradshaw,
Cyber security

Australia’s new chief cyber spook has $10 billion to tackle a massive problem

- August 28, 2024 3 MIN READ

The selection of Abigail Bradshaw as the new head of Australia’s cyber spy agency, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), sends a strong message. It confirms the government’s increasing intelligence focus on domestic cybersecurity, both to disrupt foreign influence operations and to promote better protection of our national cyber systems. The ASD is so far succeeding… Read more »