In the first of these summaries for 2023 we have a major review of Australia’s secrecy laws, a bunch of reviews by Treasury, and a cost rise for the government’s cybersecurity threat intelligence sharing platform.
Here are the digital developments from Canberra I’ve noticed since the previous edition on 23 December.
- One I missed in the final days before Christmas but which is perhaps the most important. “The Albanese Government has commenced a comprehensive and overdue review of Commonwealth secrecy offences.” Check out the official blurb and especially the terms of reference. The final report is due 30 June, but watch out for the consultation timelines before then.
- “A final draft of Australia’s first national quantum strategy is written and with government for consideration, with a public release expected within weeks.”
- I may have missed this one, but Treasury has a Consumer Data Right rules and data standards design paper for non-bank lending sector. Submissions close 31 January.
- There’s also the Strategic Plan for the Payments System: Consultation Paper. Submissions for that one close 6 February.
- And a reminder, submissions on the Digital Platforms – Consultation on Regulatory Reform close 15 February.
- Here’s a new organisation chart for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
- “The bill for the federal government’s automated cyber threat sharing platform has skyrocketed to more than $59,000 a day because of the expansion into bidirectional sharing, increased industry participation, and ‘escalating’ cyber threats.” To save you doing the arithmetic, that’s $21.5 million a year. Is that such a big number for this capability? I’ll have to think about it.
Please let me know if I’ve missed anything, or if there’s any specific items you’d like me to follow.
Parliament is scheduled (PDF) to return on Monday 6 February 2023, but I’ll almost certainly have one of these summaries next week.
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[Photo: Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC.]