On Monday, as federal treasurer Jim Chalmers sent his first Labor budget to the printers, a bunch of PRs on expensive retainers to startups sent Startup Daily their pre-budget wish lists. It was little like emailing Santa your Amazon gift list on Christmas eve. On Tuesday, Chalmers delivered socks, jocks and chocolates in the second… Read more »
Treasurer Jim Chalmers told reporters on Tuesday his first budget was “the beginning of something new and responsible”. The October 2022-23 budget under Labor is certainly a different beast from the one handed down by the Coalition just before the federal election. It is not just the numbers that have changed, the approach is different… Read more »
It’s the end the line for coal in Victoria, after Victorian Premier Dan Andrews this week announced plans for 95% renewables within 13 years. Until now, the industrialised state has been aiming for 50% by 2030. But it’s also the end of the line for our ailing, mostly privatised, energy market. Public ownership is back… Read more »
The Optus data breach, which has affected close to 10 million Australians, has sparked calls for changes to Australia’s privacy laws, placing limits on what and for how long organisations can hold our personal data. Equally important is to strengthen obligations for organisations to publicly disclose data breaches. Optus made a public announcement about its… Read more »
Flinders University’s Factory of the Future facility at the Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide will receive $10.1 million in next week’s federal budget to ramp up its advanced manufacturing support for small business and defence startups. The announcement follows through on an election pledge made by Labor in May during the campaign. Industry and science… Read more »
The National Skills Commission has added 10 more IT-related occupations to its list of skills facing national shortages, once again highlighting the need to train more technology talent in Australia. Web developers, database admins, and business analysts are now among jobs on the Commission’s official skills shortage list which informs Australia’s migration and skills development policies.… Read more »
Years after launch of the Digital Platform Services Inquiry (DPSI), so-called Big Tech firms face further scrutiny after the Senate announced a second inquiry into their market share, manipulation of customers, vertical integration, and use of proprietary algorithms. The Senate Standing Committees on Economics’ Influence of International Digital Platforms inquiry has been tasked with exploring the degree… Read more »
The government has stepped up pressure on Optus to immediately hand over the information it has on people whose data was breached by the hacking of the telecommunications giant. Optus has also been told bluntly that it is inadequate just to use email to inform more than 10,000 people whose data was uploaded by the… Read more »
The federal government is looking to follow through on an election promise to back university students looking to launch their own startup ideas with a HECS-style loans program. Speaking at the University of Technology Sydney today – home of UTS Startups run by Murray Hurps – industry and science minister Ed Husic said the Startup… Read more »
Australia could soon have some form of high-speed rail network connecting capital cities on the East coast – at the very least we’ll have a dedicated agency for thinking about laying some extra tracks for fast trains. Transport Minister Catherine King introduced a bill to parliament on Thursday to create the High-Speed Rail Authority which,… Read more »
The Australia government will offer 6,800 extra permanent migration places for tech sector workers as part of a major boost to migration this financial year. Immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs minister Andrew Giles announced the increase during the Jobs and Skills Summit last Friday. An extra 35,000 people will be accepted in 2022-23 taking the… Read more »
Industry lobby group the Tech Council of Australia (TCA) has stuck a deal with peak union group the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to work together on ramping up local tech jobs and improve digital skills. The agreement between the ACTU and Tech Council came out of Wednesday’s Digital and Tech roundtable organised by… Read more »
On August 9, 2022, Australia’s COVIDSafe app was officially decommissioned, and all its features removed. People were encouraged to uninstall the app. Reports of its closure have made international news. On ceasing COVIDSafe, health minister Mark Butler said the “Albanese government acted to delete the wasteful and ineffective COVIDSafe app” and accused the former government… Read more »
Federal Industry and Science minister Ed Husic is hosting a series of roundtables this week with tech sector leaders to discuss their economic and employment challenges ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit in September. The five roundtables this Wednesday to Friday cover the following themes: science and commercialisation (August 17) digital and tech skills… Read more »
The Albanese government has introduced tax cuts to electric vehicles in its first sitting week, claiming the proposed changes would be “good for motorists, good for climate action and good for fleet purchases”. They won’t, however, help most Australians afford one. Labor plans to stop the “fringe benefits tax” applying to electric vehicles. This tax… Read more »
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