Tech reactions to the 2025 federal budget

Avertro CEO and founder Ian Yip

This is the worst budget yet when it comes to cybersecurity, privacy, and cyber safety.

I suspect it’s because the government does not believe cybersecurity is an issue that anyone is going to care about when they go out to vote during the upcoming federal election. So, they really didn’t give a S&*$ about it.

While the government made it a point in previous budgets to allocate material dollars to cyber, it’s mostly been political posturing outside of money allocated to federal government departmental spend.

This year, they aren’t even pretending to care anymore. They have been notably silent on all cyber matters since the previous Minister for Cyber, Clare O’Neil (who IMHO was Australia’s best Minister for Cyber in history by a huge margin) was moved to a different portfolio in July of 2024.

The best the budget documents could manage was to say this:

“Since the 2023–24 Budget, the Government has committed more than $60 million to help small businesses uplift their digital and cyber security capabilities through the Digital Solutions program, Cyber Wardens program, Small Business Cyber Resilience Service and Cyber Health Check. Together, these programs help small businesses adopt digital tools and grasp the opportunities that going online offers, and prevent and bounce back from cyber attacks
So, if you want to know what the Australian government is spending on cyber, look at what was announced in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Elliot Spiegel

CEO, Inhouse Ventures

Elliot Spiegel

The Australian startup ecosystem is getting left behind by Labor.

While other countries double down on innovation, Australia is at risk of falling behind due to a lack support and reform from the current government

At Inhouse Ventures, we’d like to see more superannuation funds invested in the venture space to ensure the ecosystem continues to flourish and fuels the next wave of Australian success stories.

There are examples in Canada and Israel of government backed innovation funds that we could borrow from.

Rehan D’Almeida

CEO, FinTech Australia

FinTech Australia boss Rehan D’Almeida

This latest budget has seen fintech fall off the Federal Government’s agenda, which is a shame, as it perhaps one of the greatest solutions to boosting productivity and addressing cost of living.

Those two points could be seen as the major themes of this budget. But the Consumer Data Right, which was allocated funding in prior budgets, was championed previously as a solution for both.

Beyond this, we welcome a cautious approach toward surcharging — which is hinted at in the papers, but talked around in Chalmer’s Budget Address. Empowering the ACCC to address excessive surcharging is the right move forward. But we’re still wary that an outright ban could actually set the payments industry backwards and in turn inadvertently hurt consumers.

The Future Made in Australia and National Productivity Fund are welcome commitments. We would welcome more discussion about how this could better interact with both the startup and fintech ecosystem to drive growth. A good start would be a discussion on the R&D Tax Incentive, for which a review was canvassed ahead of this budget, but failed to get a mention in the papers.

Anish Sinha

Cofounder, UpCover

Upcover cofounders Skye Theodorou and Anish Sinha

Australia has delivered a budget that does not mention AI once. While this isn’t the first time this has happened, it is now becoming increasingly unusual as other major global governments and funds prepare to spend billions on securing a foothold with this new technology.

That, in itself, sets the tone for a federal budget that has so little to say about technology, that any sparse mention of a policy becomes a focal point. In that regard, this year’s budget has its sights firmly, and rightly set on cyber security, which we know from our customers is a major issue for small businesses. A breach can cost a business anywhere in the ball park of $50,000 to resolve.

But when you do some napkin math, the Federal Government is today committing roughly $20 per business towards protecting them. Considering the hardship faced by a breach, and the impact it can have on a business this hardly seems appropriate.

Much like Australia’s Front Door program, the UK also introduced a similar policy regarding overseas investment. But rather than encourage more investors, it simply created another barrier for investment.

While more capital is always better, could the funds be better spent unlocking capital in Australia? We know from dealing with high-net worths and family offices that so much of their wealth is still locked in property. With the right settings, that help derisk their investment, that could be re-deployed towards startups.

Kylie Walker

CEO, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE)

ATSE CEO Kylie Walker

Investments in Australian innovation are a must to help the nation become a key global player in research and development. Tonight’s Federal Budget picks a welcome winner in green metals, leveraging Australia’s abundant, cheap renewable energy to produce the metals of the future. The green metals industry is a leading example of a deep legacy of Australian innovation.

The tax cuts, energy bill credits and even the beer excise freeze, provide some relief for the cost of living today. These are not, however, the policies that will power long-term economic growth.

Bold initiatives that will shape a resilient economy of the future – such as a commitment to re-thinking Australian R&D investment through the Strategic Examination of Research and Development; the Universities Accord; and the Diversity in STEM reviews – were ignored in tonight’s budget.

ATSE continues to call for significant, bipartisan, sector-wide investments in science, technology and innovation to safeguard Australia’s economy into the future.

Will Richardson

Managing partner, Giant Leap

Giant Leap managing partner Will Richardson

This year’s budget was always going to focus on cost-of-living relief, especially with an election on the horizon. The challenge was whether it could also lay the groundwork for innovative solutions to some of the country’s biggest issues.

There are positive signals. Policies like the Front Door for investors and efforts to streamline M&A processes are welcome steps for the VC community, though we’ll need more clarity on how they’ll be implemented.

At the same time, the budget leans heavily on direct government spending to address key challenges.

While investment in areas like mental health and climate action is critical, there’s an opportunity to better leverage Australia’s entrepreneurial talent to develop scalable, long-term solutions. With the right support, founders could not only tackle these problems but also drive job creation and economic growth.

Jack Qi

William Buck

Jack Qi

As expected, this was a very subdued Budget from the perspective of the Australian tech sector.

Besides some minor targeted initiatives supporting niche areas and a continuation of the previously-announced Future Made in Australia plan, there is no change or reform to promote Australia’s innovative companies.

Reforms that could actually move the dial include an expansion of the R&D tax incentive to lift Australia’s below-OECD average R&D investment, and additional tax concessions under the employee share scheme tax rules for companies falling outside of the Startup Concession.

Here’s something for the Government to consider – if it saw fit to direct the Future Fund to invest in specific areas, then the tech sector surely deserves consideration.

Julius Wei

Chief Investment Officer, Boman Group.

This is a federal budget aimed at winning votes with a headline tax cut, but has very little substance for the business or startup community. It’s arguable that the only businesses who directly benefit from an uptick in consumer spending will see a tangible benefit from this budget.

Of the big ticket items that do affect emerging business, perhaps the most questionable is the Front Door for investors, which has been introduced as part of the Future Made In Australia policy.

While addressing this is a step forward, do we really need another committee to vet investments coming into Australia? FIRB’s current level of transparency with its decisions on overseas property investment is questionable at best.

More broadly, while we may see more measures announced during the impending election, it’s a shame to see that there’s no broader appetite for structural tax reform — the kind that throws income tax, GST and business tax on the table, with the aim of creating a fairer system for all.

There’s appetite from the broader community on this, but a lack of political willpower.

The Tech Council of Australia

The TCA is disappointed that no explicit tech sector investment was included in the package of budget measures. This is a missed opportunity to build our national competitiveness – at a time of domestic productivity decline, and of critical global trade volatility.

We encourage the Government and the Opposition to formalise their support of our Tech Investment Target: to expand both R&D investment and technology adoption to comprise 4.6% of Australia’s share of GDP within the next decade. There are several Budget measures – including training and business cost-relief – that contribute to this goal.

We look to further announcements in election platforms that will help achieve our shared goal to secure Australia’s global tech competitiveness – and support our growing tech workforce and investment base.

Similarly, we welcome the Government’s commitment to drive innovation in the renewable energy transition, which includes a $2 billion investment through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Des Hang

CEO, Carbar

Des Hang

We may be better off becoming a zookeeper in Australia than a startup founder.

The federal Budget found funds for Pandas in Adelaide, but many of the big ticket startup impacting items flagged ahead of the budget, like a re-examination of R&D Tax Incentives, were given a firm swerve.

In their place, we got reform to encourage overseas investment into business — albeit via yet another new committee. And a continued focus on the energy transition. In my view the non-compete clause reform won’t really affect the startup ecosystem that much either. Well, at least not for us, as we don’t practice in poaching staff.

That’s not to say the budget is all bad. Tax cuts will flow onto consumer spending, and the focus on cutting red tape and improving productivity is welcome — especially if that means a closer look at government services offered to the business community.

But it’s getting harder and harder to see how the federal budget will genuinely impact founders or anyone planning to innovate in Australia.

Perhaps this is the goal? But it’s an alarming trend with state government’s nationally not being in a fantastic position to pick up the slack.

Carolyn Breeze

CEO, Scalare Partners

Ben Thompson

CEO, Employment Hero

Employment Hero CEO Ben Thompson. Photo: supplied

We’re surprised—and frankly disappointed—to see nothing on AI in this year’s budget, despite it being mentioned in tonight’s speech.

If Australia wants to compete on the global stage, we can’t afford to fall behind in accelerating the adoption of AI. Other countries are investing heavily in AI capability. We need targeted support—especially for small businesses—to access AI tools, training, and infrastructure.

This Budget offers some practical support but falls short on ambition.

Small businesses will welcome energy bill relief and stronger protections against unfair trading, but where’s the investment in growth? There’s no broad tax relief, no new digital transformation funding, and no real incentives to help businesses expand or innovate.

Australia’s small business owners don’t just need help keeping the lights on- they need policies that help with recovery and fuel long-term success. Without stronger investment in skills, technology, and job creation, this Budget feels like a missed opportunity to truly back the businesses that drive our economy.