The Australian Bureau of Statistics has highlighted a marked increase in Defence expenditure as a key element of public sector expenditure, leading to a slightly higher-than-anticipated national economic growth rate of 0.8% in the December quarter 2025 and 2.6% on an annualised basis. As the debate around how much the
Laws have now passed to set up a parliamentary joint committee on defence, on the advice of an international armed conflict decision-making inquiry. Membership will soon be confirmed. The joint standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade had previously recommended that such a statutory committee be focused on defence
Pre-election proof points of the Minns government’s good deeds have continued thick and fast, with the announcement that at least some of the replacements for the state’s nearly half-century-old XPT regional and interstate rail fleet have landed in Australia for testing. But there’s yet to be a proper timetable for
Western Australia Treasurer Rita Saffioti has boasted about her state’s strong economic growth, which she says new Australian Bureau of Statistics national accounts data shows is outpacing the rest of the nation. National economic growth reached 2.5% last year, while WA’s economy grew by 3.3%. On Tuesday, Saffioti said the
Gudanji-Arrernte woman and Indigenous leader Pat Turner has been recognised by the prime minister as her term as National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation CEO and Coalition of Peaks lead convenor comes to an end. Anthony Albanese described Turner as a formidable advocate who worked to make Australia a better
In Part 3 of our ‘Government 3.0’ series, Victor Dominello and Carmem Domingues discuss the risks of passively accepting the baked-in bias of AI automation. Part 2 argued that faster processes are not the same as better public outcomes, and Part 1 discussed the need for AI that sharpens
The Australian Taxation Office failed to adequately communicate changes in its approach to general interest charge remissions, according to the tax ombud. A report that looked at the ATO’s administration of the general interest charge — interest charged on a tax debt — found it altered how it dealt with
Dr Sophie Scamps’ reintroduction of her ending jobs for mates bill lays down a real challenge to the Albanese government. As the government has itself acknowledged, we live in an era of challenged public trust in government and institutions. One of the reasons that trust has deteriorated is cronyism: if
The critical need for Zero Trust The world’s rapid acceleration in digital transformation across multiple sectors has made cybersecurity not just an IT issue, but a leadership priority for government agencies. Adversaries are using AI to outpace traditional defences, and cyber threats are escalating in scale and sophistication. The federal
The prevailing consensus in public affairs — often called the conventional wisdom — is not always correct. The prevailing global consensus in the medical fraternity that diet or stress were the primary cause of gastric ulcers was shown to be mistaken by Australian researchers Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who
The latest report on gender pay equality in Australia has integrated data from 126 Commonwealth public sector employers. Among the federal departments and agencies that have disclosed their workplace settings, 10 have no formal gender pay gap policy. Only four are at parity or better. Speaking at a press conference
Victorian Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs Danny Pearson has unveiled the second round of the $4.25 million state initiative to upskill workers with cutting-edge, in-demand skills. Pearson said construction and advanced manufacturing workers could develop skills across artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, digital ...
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has highlighted a marked increase in Defence expenditure as a key element of public sector expenditure, leading to a slightly higher-than-anticipated national economic growth rate of 0.8% in the December quarter 2025 and 2.6% on an annualised basis. As the debate around how much the
Laws have now passed to set up a parliamentary joint committee on defence, on the advice of an international armed conflict decision-making inquiry. Membership will soon be confirmed. The joint standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade had previously recommended that such a statutory committee be focused on defence
Pre-election proof points of the Minns government’s good deeds have continued thick and fast, with the announcement that at least some of the replacements for the state’s nearly half-century-old XPT regional and interstate rail fleet have landed in Australia for testing. But there’s yet to be a proper timetable for
Western Australia Treasurer Rita Saffioti has boasted about her state’s strong economic growth, which she says new Australian Bureau of Statistics national accounts data shows is outpacing the rest of the nation. National economic growth reached 2.5% last year, while WA’s economy grew by 3.3%. On Tuesday, Saffioti said the
Gudanji-Arrernte woman and Indigenous leader Pat Turner has been recognised by the prime minister as her term as National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation CEO and Coalition of Peaks lead convenor comes to an end. Anthony Albanese described Turner as a formidable advocate who worked to make Australia a better
In Part 3 of our ‘Government 3.0’ series, Victor Dominello and Carmem Domingues discuss the risks of passively accepting the baked-in bias of AI automation. Part 2 argued that faster processes are not the same as better public outcomes, and Part 1 discussed the need for AI that sharpens
The Australian Taxation Office failed to adequately communicate changes in its approach to general interest charge remissions, according to the tax ombud. A report that looked at the ATO’s administration of the general interest charge — interest charged on a tax debt — found it altered how it dealt with
Dr Sophie Scamps’ reintroduction of her ending jobs for mates bill lays down a real challenge to the Albanese government. As the government has itself acknowledged, we live in an era of challenged public trust in government and institutions. One of the reasons that trust has deteriorated is cronyism: if
The critical need for Zero Trust The world’s rapid acceleration in digital transformation across multiple sectors has made cybersecurity not just an IT issue, but a leadership priority for government agencies. Adversaries are using AI to outpace traditional defences, and cyber threats are escalating in scale and sophistication. The federal
The prevailing consensus in public affairs — often called the conventional wisdom — is not always correct. The prevailing global consensus in the medical fraternity that diet or stress were the primary cause of gastric ulcers was shown to be mistaken by Australian researchers Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who
The latest report on gender pay equality in Australia has integrated data from 126 Commonwealth public sector employers. Among the federal departments and agencies that have disclosed their workplace settings, 10 have no formal gender pay gap policy. Only four are at parity or better. Speaking at a press conference
Victorian Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs Danny Pearson has unveiled the second round of the $4.25 million state initiative to upskill workers with cutting-edge, in-demand skills. Pearson said construction and advanced manufacturing workers could develop skills across artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, digital ...
