News

On female chairs: a way forward

Katherine Woodthorpe is a remarkable chairman: First, she’s a woman and secondly she’s a scientist – both remain rare at the apex of Australian corporate life. A former CEO...

NYT: What not to do on broadband

I don’t receive much feedback about Malcolm Turnbull anymore – not at industry events, discussions with stakeholders in the communications sector, or even at street corner meetings in Blacktown....

Redesign hit to incubator program

The Federal Government “refocusing” of the incubator support program is a “perplexing” move that demonstrates how innovation has fallen off its list of priorities, according to StartupAus CEO Alex...

Budget reply short on optimism

You wouldn’t want to read too much into it, but Bill Shorten’s faux-feisty budget reply last night did nothing to paint a picture of how Labor would shape Australia’s...

Budget 2017 is steady as she goes

Federal budget nights really are an expectations game. No-one ever gets everything that they want, and sometimes we get things that we specifically don’t want. So really the only...

Angus Taylor on new DTA funding

The Digital Transformation Agency’s $70 million in additional funding includes a substantially expanded cyber security remit and the creation of centralised platform services to complement its governance and standards-setting...

Game developer inquiry ignored

Support for Australia’s struggling video game industry went missing in the Federal budget and now Green’s Senator Scott Ludlam is on the hunt for the Turnbull government’s response to...

ScoMo gifts bank data to FinTechs

Australia is on the verge of a revolution in its financial industry. It will not happen overnight, but all the signs are there. The growth of FinTechs has happened...

Still no response to R&D report

The Federal government has made no changes to the R&D Tax Incentive scheme in the Budget despite widespread unrest with the scheme among startups and a bunch of untouched...

Census fires DTA cyber response

The great eCensus fail of 2016 was the Turnbull government’s most publicly embarrassing cyber security stuff up and the Digital Transformation Agency scores extra funds from the 2017 budget...

Skilled visas now a cash cow

The Federal government will slap a levy on employers of foreign workers coming into the country on the new Temporary Skill Shortage visa that’s expected to reap more than...

Digital Earth gets funds boost

The federal government has provided $15 million in funding for the creation of a “world-first analysis platform for satellite imagery”, which will assist with evidence-based decisions for the environment...

Immigration gets $95m makeover

Australia’s immigration and border protection tech processes will undergo a $95 million digital transformation in an effort to strengthen and speed-up the visa process. Announced in this year’s federal...

Crowdfunding now a private thing

Equity crowdfunding will soon be available to all Australian companies following sustained pressure from the Opposition and startup community. The government revealed the move to extend the funding scheme...