The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, legislated by the US in 2018, gives foreign partners – those the US Federal Government deems to have “robust protections for privacy and civil liberties” – access to electronic data held by US-based corporate entities to support criminal investigations.

Through a CLOUD Act agreement, Australian authorities would be able to make direct requests for data from a US company using local laws, rather than having to go through US authorities and legal strictures, and vice versa.

The Western Australian Country Health Service (WACHS) Command Centre will provide emergency and specialty services to support front-line clinicians in regional WA, giving remote doctors and nurses 24/7 access to clinical specialists.

The Command Centre will build on WACHS’ existing Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS), operating since 2012, amalgamating new and existing services into a single virtual clinical hub, and providing a suite of videoconferencing and real-time data displays to assist local clinicians in practice.

The new SOCaaS centre will give specialists in Canberra and Sydney “full cybersecurity coverage, including 24/7 event monitoring and alert response”, Macquarie said in a statement.

The service will operate through Macquarie’s security information and event management (SIEM) system, which allows its staff to monitor agency workloads and events as well as enforce compliance.

The state’s Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) has said a number of servers across the state’s health network have been impacted by the “cyber incident”, with investigators still assessing the full extent of the breach.

In a statement, the DPC revealed it had blocked access to and isolated several major systems – including financial management – in response the ransomware “infiltration”.

The spoof emails, which imitate the NSW Government, appear to invite suppliers to offer a quote for goods and services or provide a fake purchase order for the goods/services.

NSW Treasury was alerted to the scam by the ACSC.

“The scammers register realistic looking NSW Government websites and email addresses and use these to communicate with suppliers. The emails include the contact details of the Chief Procurement Officer, Chief Information Officer and Secretary,” the NSW Treasury said in a statement.

Known as IP GAIN, the new “secure and scalable platform”, hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, has been likened to “an app store or marketplace” for developers, allowing third parties to expose, host, and provide access to their AI/ML tools.

As well as the ‘app store’ capability, the platform will also feature a unique source code repository for sharing, licensing, and co-developing AI/ML technologies.

In launching its new platform, IP Australia stressed the challenge of nurturing the development of AI/ML tools that can support the agency’s work.  

The new rollout will provide ACT's health department with a new end-to-end enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution incorporating supply chain, prosthesis management, business intelligence and analytics, replacing the Health Directory’s longstanding, on-prem-based inventory management system. 
 
Winning an individual bid for the Health Directory’s tender, TechnologyOne said it will “seamlessly [manage] the full supply chain lifecycle of all ACT hospitals” without other delivery partners required.

The fourth iteration of the TDIF will set requirements for companies seeking accreditation on the scheme, considered “a foundational step to developing a true whole-of-economy solution”, the DTA said in a statement. Accordingly, the Agency said it is also seeking to broaden the Framework to support organisations and agencies that choose to undergo accreditation. 
 

Under the multi-year agreement, the Department will implement Unisys's subscription-based Facial Signature Image Processing system, adding an extra layer of biometric security and fraud protection on top of its recently updated smart chip integrated licences. 

Leveraging AusPost’s Digital ID verification service, the aptly named Workforce Verification system allows employers to perform background checks on candidates, including screens for identity, police, and visa checks.

Australia Post Head of Product – Identity Services, Christian Seely, said its new all-in-one, "low-touchpoint" interface will prove a “game-changer” for HR professionals, streamlining the hiring and onboarding process, whilst reducing administration costs and candidate dropouts associated with existing background checking processes.

Launched as a joint initiative between four NSW universities and the state government, the planned R&D facility will form part of an advanced manufacturing precinct within the Aerotropolis – a major greenfield project to provide supporting infrastructure for Sydney’s long-anticipated ‘second airport’ at Badgerys Creek.

Securing the deal, Premier Berejiklian signed a Memorandum of Understanding at BAE’s London headquarters as part of a wider trade mission to the UK and Germany.

The investigation by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) found that Public Transport Victoria (PTV) had released de-identified data that exposed myki users’ travel histories – data that was later found by researchers be re-identifiable, according to a report commissioned by the OVIC.

Myki is a reloadable contactless smart card ticketing system used across Melbourne's public transportation system. According to 2018 figures, more than 15 million active myki cards are in circulation.

The Mixed Reality Lab will offer a multiplicity of industries – most notably from manufacturing, mining, health and agriculture – the opportunity to build virtual replicas, or 'digital twins', of physical objects and systems, allowing components to be tested and validated in a simulated environment.

The new facility will provide the DHS with “a scientific, technically advanced and secure facility” to analyse digital evidence to aid in criminal fraud investigations.

Its remit will cover in-house investigations through the DHS’s own Taskforce Integrity operations, as well as lending its hand to other federal agencies’ anti-fraud activities, including the National Disability Insurance Agency and the Australian Federal Police.

Brisbane will play host to the new DHS forensics team, four years after the launch of its first lab in Canberra.

WA remains only one of two states in Australia, alongside South Australia, that lacks comprehensive privacy protection and information sharing laws. NSW, for instance, enacted its Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 a decade ago, creating the all-important Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) in the process (succeeded a year later by the Information and Privacy Commission NSW).