Category: Katy Gallagher

May 8, 2025

All eyes on caucus as Ed Husic exits the Industry portfolio

Industry and Science minister Ed Husic is set to be dropped from federal Cabinet, a casualty of post-election factional jostling for positions in Anthony Albanese’s second ministry. But regardless of the composition of the Cabinet or who is named to lead the portfolio, there remains a long list of overhanging work that needs urgent attention,…

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May 7, 2025

Gallagher to retain Finance portfolio in ministry reshuffle

Labor Senator and senior frontbencher Katy Gallagher will retain the Finance portfolio in the Albanese government’s second term, giving her control of whole-of-government technology and keenly anticipated procurement reforms. Senator Gallagher is also “hopeful” of holding onto to her other first-term portfolios of Women, Public Service and Government Services, but the decision is ultimately up…

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March 27, 2025

Suppliers hit with diversity rules to win govt’s tech work

Government suppliers that fail to start closing their gender pay gaps face new barriers in winning federal contracts worth billions of dollars, after gender equality laws passed parliament on Wednesday. The new rules can apply to businesses with 500 or more employees and could hit Canberra’s tech suppliers especially hard, with several dealing with large…

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March 24, 2025

Govt’s contractor savings mask tech insourcing challenge

As the Albanese government books another $720 million saving on external labour, the analysis that triggered the cull is getting a refresh amid warnings of mounting tech work and creaking legacy systems. Finance and Services minister Katy Gallagher on Monday said the government will find more savings on consultants, contractors and labour hire in Tuesday’s…

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March 12, 2025

DTA’s ‘early warning system’ flashes for nine govt IT projects

As many as nine major digital projects in Canberra are off track and will require significant changes if they are to meet their targets, a new report by the Digital Transformation Agency has revealed. Among the most high-profile projects deemed least likely to successfully land is a $174.7 million platform to help older Australian’s access…

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March 4, 2025

Tech suppliers’ uphill battle on gender pay gap

The federal government’s main technology suppliers have significant gender pay gaps, with some well above the industry averages and going backwards, newly released transparency data shows. Tuesday’s data reveals that overall the tech industry is closing its gender pay gap faster than the national rate, but it remains a chasm at almost double the economy…

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March 3, 2025

Retained economic benefit and the rise of Australian tech

The idea that it could take more than two years to come up with a definition for what constitutes an Australian company would be considered laughable by right-minded Australians. How hard can it be? But that is how long it has taken the Australian government to agree on its own understanding of what an Australian…

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March 3, 2025

Dozens of agencies miss major AI transparency deadline

Almost forty per cent of federal government agencies duty-bound to produce an AI transparency statement have missed the February filing deadline, in a blow to Canberra’s efforts to build public trust in its use of the technology. The nearly 100 agencies compelled under the mandatory transparency standard faced a Friday deadline to publish their statements,…

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March 2, 2025

Centrelink decision-making based on AI still a ‘long way off’

Services Australia has begun testing machine learning technology to help clear its backlog of Centrelink debts deemed “no debt” and improve the customer experience, but says it is still a “long, long way off” rolling out the tool. Officials from the welfare services agency revealed details of the early-stage trial conducted late last year at…

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February 26, 2025

Govt closing in on crucial procurement updates

The Albanese government has landed on a definition of Australian business to reform a $75 billion procurement system that local suppliers warn is being gamed by foreign tech giants. Details on the definition will be announced within days by Finance minister Katy Gallagher and Industry minister Ed Husic, who have consulted with the tech sector…

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February 18, 2025

Privacy, Indigenous leaders added to govt services board

Privacy and Indigenous affairs experts have bolstered the board advising Services minister Katy Gallagher on delivery and technology ahead of its first meeting of 2025 on Wednesday. Former national privacy watchdog Malcolm Crompton and Indigenous health expert Dr Scott Winch were announced as new additions to the advisory board on Tuesday. The board continues to…

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February 13, 2025

‘Extraordinary’: Scams bill rammed through Senate

Banks, telcos and online platforms like Google and Facebook will be subject to new rules and $50 million penalties after federal Parliament passed world-first anti-scam laws on Thursday. But the new laws are under fire after the government and Opposition teamed to block debate in the Senate on a bill that “looked like it had…

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February 5, 2025

Services Aus seeks new faces for $1m advisory board

A recruitment process is underway to replace the highly-paid outside advisers that former Government Services minister Bill Shorten had running the ruler over his agency’s services and myGov app. Advice from Services Australia’s interim advisers last year could cost up to $1.3 million, with members meeting 14 times under inaugural chair Victor Dominello, a former…

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January 16, 2025

Gallagher adds govt services beat in pre-election reshuffle

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a ministerial shake-up, handing Finance minister Katy Gallagher responsibility for the country’s welfare agencies through Services Australia. Senator Gallagher will take the position of Government Services minister, in addition to her existing responsibilities monitoring government expenditure and financial management, from Monday. It comes after outgoing Government Services minister Bill…

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January 13, 2025

Labor commits $3bn to NBN upgrades

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed an additional $3 billion to “finish” the NBN and improve internet speeds at remaining fibre-to-the node (FTTN) premises should Labor win this year’s federal election. The equity investment, coupled with a $800 million commitment from the NBN Co, extends the federal government’s existing initiative to upgrade copper-based connections to…

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December 5, 2024

DTA procurement review looks to ‘level playing field’

A strategic review of whole-of-government technology sourcing arrangements will look at options to boost procurement from local small and medium-sized businesses, according to Finance minister Katy Gallagher. Senator Gallagher said the Digital Transformation Agency-led review, which is set to begin in the new year, will “be looking to what opportunities exist” to enable more smaller,…

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November 27, 2024

Politics and cultural inertia stymie procurement reform

There is surely no more challenging federal issue in need of urgent reform than tech procurement policy. It is the giant industry development policy lever sitting in plain sight, but which politics and cultural inertia have left virtually untouched for 20 years. It is the strangest dynamic, and one that stems from the treasonously bad…

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November 6, 2024

DTA resisters pique Cabinet committee interest

Federal agencies that go rogue and defy whole-of-government digital policies and standards are attracting the attention of the powerful Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet. Finance minister Katy Gallagher on Tuesday night revealed agencies resisting engagement with the government’s digital investment cop have piqued the committee’s interest as it tries to limit future tech wrecks. It…

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November 5, 2024

PwC federal work ban extended until mid-2025

Consulting giant PwC will be barred from bidding on new federal government work until at least mid-next year, extending a public service directive mutually agreed by the firm and the Department of Finance by another six months. As federal police search PwC’s Sydney headquarters, officials from Finance on Tuesday flagged plans to continue its edict…

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November 4, 2024

Consulting giants take $900m hit under Labor

The Big Four consulting firms and Accenture received almost $900 million less from federal agencies last year compared to the Coalition government’s final 12 months, data to be released on Tuesday shows. The volume and value of contracts awarded to the five firms has plummeted after scandals and an Albanese government edict to cut consulting…

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November 4, 2024

Defence and tech lead Canberra’s $528m insourcing drive

Technology and Defence contractors account for most of the $528 million in outsourced work that federal agencies will bring back in house this financial year under Labor’s directive to rebalance the public service. The “core” APS work insourcing target was released on Monday by Finance minister Katy Gallagher, who put agencies on notice a year…

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August 19, 2024

‘Eye-wateringly expensive failure’: $341m GovERP coffin nailed shut

No more money should be poured into the shared whole-of-government Enterprise Resources Planning (GovERP) project, an independent review has confirmed, after Labor halted the spiraling project last year. The scathing review to be released on Tuesday found a lack of ownership and accountability meant the roving project failed to deliver the backend systems uplift and…

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August 15, 2024

New govt AI use policy mandates accountability

Defence and national intelligence agencies have been carved out of the first policy for responsible use of AI by government, which launched on Thursday to engender trust in the technology that Australians are slow to adopt. In force from next month, the policy’s mandatory transparency, governance and risk assurance measures aim to position government as…

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August 13, 2024

New laws clear path to pursue ex-agency heads over Robodebt

The Albanese government will introduce legislation to provide an express power for the Public Service Commissioner to investigate former agency heads, after some ex-mandarins claimed leaving the Public Service meant they could not be investigated over Robodebt. The Commissioner is one of the last remaining avenues for some accountability for the illegal scheme, after the corruption…

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July 26, 2024

Govt ends ERP ‘lock-out’ with new marketplace

The federal government has unveiled its ERP marketplace, giving departments and agencies a choice of local and multinational software vendors for their back-office system for the first time since 2016. The ERP reset comes eight months after the government abandoned its long-running GovERP consideration project, ending SAP lock-in for around 100 agencies. Services Australia is…

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June 21, 2024

Ministers unveil national AI framework for government

A new set of guardrails that lays out clear human rights expectations for the use of artificial intelligence across federal, state and territory government for the first time has been unveiled. The framework, which has been a year in the making, was released following a meeting of the Data and Digital Minister Meeting on Friday….

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June 20, 2024

Domestic violence data focus for digital ministers

Domestic violence data sharing blockages facing federal, state and territory policing agencies will form the basis of discussions between Australia’s digital and data ministers on Friday. Digital and data ministers will convene in Darwin to discuss ways to help law enforcement improve the sharing of information on perpetrators between jurisdictions amid the nation’s gender-based…

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June 18, 2024

Procurement tweak sharpens local tech sector’s edge

Australian government tech suppliers are celebrating the Albanese government’s procurement rule changes, which will see more consideration of a seller’s broader economic benefit like intellectual property transfer and taxes. The consideration, which will be required for federal contracts over $1 million from July, helps level the playing field against global firms and has been welcomed…

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June 17, 2024

Canberra sets new SME contract spend targets

The federal government’s small and medium business procurement targets will be pushed to more ambitious levels and buyers will need to seek extra consultancy competition under changes announced by Finance minister Katy Gallagher on Monday. The threshold for going directly to smaller suppliers will also more than double to $500,000, while the bar for all…

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June 5, 2024

Legacy tech sweep for govt’s new investment plan

Decades old legacy technologies are creating concerns across the federal government, with tech heavy Services Australia conducting a sweep of their own aging systems and the Digital Transformation Agency looking at how to manage potentially massive uplift costs across the Commonwealth. An “end-to-end architecture review” will begin next month at Services Australia to examine its…

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