NSW Audit exposes glaring cyber failures in state transport authorities; ACSC introduces E8 ‘zero level’ cyber maturity; and Federal Government scraps NDIS ‘robo-planning’ proposal.
– The Federal Government has scrapped plans to introduce NDIS independent assessments – dubbed “robo-planning” by critics – following backlash from the states.
The plan would have introduced independent assessments, conducted by contracted assessors (rather than their existing specialists) to review individuals’ NDIS claims.
This information would have then been fed into an algorithm comprising 400 “personas” to determine a funding budget for the individual.
– The NSW Audit Office has exposed “significant vulnerabilities” in the cyber defences of the state’s transport authorities, with the two assessed agencies failing to meet mandated target levels for the state’s Cyber Security Policy (CSP) and Federal Government’s ‘Essential Eight’.
– Macquarie Telecom has announced its “largest-ever” data centre set to be in Sydney. Macquarie will invest an initial $78 million to build the core and shell of the new 32-megawatt Intellicentre 3 (IC3) Super West facility.
Macquarie Telecom’s Canberra Campus was announced as one of three providers certified by the Federal Government to store sensitive data locally.
– The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has mandated its Essential Eight (E8) be essential and implemented uniformly, regardless of an agency’s level.
“The Essential Eight Maturity Model now prioritises the implementation of all eight mitigation strategies as a package due to their complementary nature and focus on various cyber threats,” the ACSC said.
The ASCS urged organisations to “fully achieve a maturity level across all eight mitigation strategies before moving to achieve a higher maturity level”.
The model adds a new maturity ‘level zero’, defined as environments with weaknesses that cannot prevent commodity attacks in level one.
– The South Australian Government has enlisted SAGE Automation to further develop its real-time traffic monitoring and management tool, Addinsight – effectively taking out the government from its further development.
Addinsight, developed almost a decade ago for the SA Government to manage traffic flows across the Adelaide road network, determines travel times between any two points on the road, detected through beacons located around the road network that ‘ping’ road users’ Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices.
– The Digital Transformation Agency has reportedly confirmed several contacts worth millions of dollars the last month, including for consultancy work on the redevelopment of myGov and a review of the government’s digital capabilities.
A number of new contracts and amendments to existing contracts were posted publicly by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) this week.
– The NSW Government has unveiled a new all-in-one hub, Resilience NSW, providing a central information repository to support communities recovering from bushfires, floods, and other natural disasters.
The central Hub is designed for use on mobile phones, tablets and computers, with more than 17 state and federal agencies represented.
– The NSW Government will develop a new, world-first Building Assurance Solution (BAS), bringing together products and designs certificates of compliance that can provide a trustworthy rating for individual buildings.
– Aussie data centre operator, NEXTDC, has announced its Brisbane-based data centre will deliver Queensland’s first locally available cloud access location, specialised for Google Cloud.
– The NSW Department of Communities and Justice has secured a $7 million deal with CSO Group to develop a managed security monitoring service.
The contract will see the Perth-based IT security service provider deliver an integrated solution, complete with a security operations centre and security information and event management (SIEM) platform from Macquarie Telecom.
– The NSW Government has mandated that all development applications and complying development certificates must now be processed through the Government’s online ePlanning portal.
“ePlanning has transformed a cumbersome and opaque paper-based process into a streamlined digital service enabling people to submit applications online and track applications in real-time,” Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes.
“This one-stop-shop plays an important role in keeping the economy moving while offering greater convenience for the people of NSW.
More than 80,500 DAs have been submitted via the portal to date from January 2019, representing $91.28 billion in investment, the Government said.
– The Australian Digital Health Agency has contracted Deloitte Consulting to deliver the first phase of its modernisation program – the Health Information Gateway.
The Gateway serves as “a pivotal piece of national digital health enabling technology,” the ADHA said, providing “a secure and scalable platform for exchanging and accessing health information, including priority areas such as vaccinations and aged care data”.
The ADHA said the Gateway is key to its “future directions for national digital health infrastructure”.
– Court Services Victoria is seeking to roll out a digital wayfinding solution for the Bendigo Law Courts Development, including multimedia screens, with integrated court listing management systems, public information display and content management; kiosks and mobile solutions, with court building navigation and court process navigation; and a meeting room booking solution.
– Local Government NSW has announced the release of a draft Smart Places Customer Charter and draft Smart Places Data Protection Policy for public consultation. The drafts will be available for public view until 20 July 2021.
– As of July 1, vaccination providers across the country are required to report all vaccines administered through the National Immunisation Program to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Mandatory reporting of Covid-19 and influenza vaccinations has been in force since February this year.
– The NSW Government’s Department of Customer Service is seeking expressions of interest from telecommunications service providers to join its approved suppliers list for the Government’s Telecommunication Purchasing Arrangements (TPAs) panel.
– The ACT Government has announced 37 recipients of its inaugural Technology Upgrade Fund.
The Fund, from a pool of $478,000, “addresses the digital equity gap, widened by the global pandemic, for at-risk groups in our community such as older Canberrans, people with disability, and people with health conditions,” said Assistant Minister for Seniors, Veterans, Families and Community Services Emma Davidson.
– The Queensland Government has rolled out a new AgTech Hub for the Bundaberg region, offering agribusinesses in the region access to emerging technology and services at the early stages of commercial release
“The adoption of AgTech by producers is key to the future profitability and sustainability of Queensland’s agricultural supply chain,” said Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities, Mark Furner.
– SafeWork NSW has released a truck safety training tool to promote safer work practices among road freight industry inductees. The app was developed in partnership with Lindsay Transport.
