Category: InnovationAus

A series of “urgent” reforms are needed to encourage the use of electric trucks in Australia and bring the country into line with much of the rest of the world, with a swift transition to have a “truly massive” impact, according to transport groups. The Electric Vehicle Council and

Australia is completely reliant on data from foreign-owned satellites for its weather forecasting, resource and water management and disaster response and this is creating a “sovereign risk”, according to leading scientists. In a new plan for Australian space science released Thursday, scientists say the risk must be addressed over

Australia’s privacy watchdog wants to adopt a more strategic and proactive role as part of sweeping reforms to the Privacy Act, calling for more resourcing and powers as part of this process. In its submission to government, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) also backed calls to

The experts who recommended funding for research projects that were later blocked by the acting Education minister late last year have condemned the intervention, warning it “undermines” the independent assessment process and weakens public trust. On Wednesday an open letter signed by 139 current and former members of the

The federal government’s online safety laws and the eSafety Commissioner are “woefully inadequate”, and planned reforms will do nothing to help those most impacted from online harms, according to University of Western Australia research associate Noelle Martin. Ms Martin, who was the WA Australian of the Year in 2019,

As custodians of our taxes, the Commonwealth government should be aiming to get the best return for the nation from expenditure on our public Universities. While the most recent decision by Minister Robert resulted in questions of ‘political interference’, the whole process is fundamentally flawed. The release of the

A French tech firm was awarded $180 million in contracts by the federal government to replace the ageing fingerprints matching database due to a lack of expertise internally to complete the work and the “urgency” in updating it. In response to Labor questions on notice, the Australian Criminal Intelligence

The University of New South Wales’ research director has slammed the latest vetoing of research funding, saying the minister responsible did not even understand the projects he blocked on national interest grounds and is sending a message to academics to avoid areas the government may find too “challenging”. The University

Large American technology firms want the Australian government to consolidate its various online safety laws into one Act, claiming a “slew of regulations” are creating overlap, inconsistency and confusion. The federal government has introduced several pieces of online safety legislation over the last three years, including the Online Safety

New South Wales’ troubled digital voting system will not be used for the upcoming state and local government by-elections and needs “extensive reconfiguration and testing”  following tech glitches late last year. The announcement comes just a month after the NSW state government said electronic voting would be “easy”. The

The Department of Home Affairs has accused Facebook parent Meta of being “the most reluctant” of the big tech firms to work with the federal government on safety measures, claiming Facebook’s parent company has shown a “degree of seeming indifference”. In a submission to the House Select Committee Inquiry

Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow is leading the development of a “model law” for facial recognition technology in Australia, warning the current absence is allowing the technology to be misused. The new project being conducted by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) will examine other countries’ attempts