Explainer: how the Australian intelligence community works Editors' Picks The recent creation of the Home Affairs super portfolio has added another four agencies to the national intelligence community. Here's how they work together.
Trump's 'Buy American' will save taxpayers around $75m a year — but won't make govt happy Monday April 30, 2018 By Harley Dennett Defence The new White House policy was initially criticised for its 'emptiness'. But the Australian government will soon know just how damaging it will be to…
Submarine report: department shopping list needs to be contestable Thursday September 28, 2017 By Stephen Easton News Advice from the Department of Defence must be subject to more scrutiny from other agencies, according to the review of Australia's Future Submarine Program. Part…
Defence and Data61 win IT awards with secure solution for air-gapped networks Friday September 1, 2017 By Stephen Easton News Data61 and Defence Science and Technology group have been jointly recognised at a national IT industry awards night for designing a convenient way to easily…
Defence goes back to basics as it prepares for the multipolar world Monday July 31, 2017 By Harley Dennett Case studies By appointing a relative young-gun to run the Department of Defence, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has bucked a 40-year trend and offers an opportunity to…
Cyber skills shortage 'getting worse' as Turnbull goes on the offensive Tuesday July 11, 2017 By Stephen Easton Communications & Technology In the wake of another ransomware attack, Malcolm Turnbull's announcement of new offensive capabilities to combat cyber criminals and fight the wars of the future…
Defence recognised for Indigenous procurement leadership Wednesday May 17, 2017 By Stephen Easton News The Department of Defence has been recognised with an award for its enthusiastic support of the federal Indigenous Procurement Policy. It smashed the target set…
No time for cowards and wafflers: Dennis Richardson clocks off Tuesday May 16, 2017 By Stephen Easton Career Advice Senior public servants can still give frank and fearless advice -- unless they're cowards, says former Department of Defence secretary Dennis Richardson. He also believes…
The power of a public servant: Dennis Richardson Monday May 1, 2017 By Graeme Dobell Features Dennis embraced his own style, as a model of a modern mandarin. ASPI's Graeme Dobell on the Defence secretary who followed the career trajectory of…
Defence to offer motorbike safety training to manage capability risk Thursday March 23, 2017 By Stephen Easton Career Advice Very large organisations can find serious risks if they start worrying about what kinds of dangerous activities staff get up to in their own time.
Canberra's new private cyber security operations centre ready to attack Wednesday February 8, 2017 By Stephen Easton News We all know the Australian Defence Force has some offensive information warfare capability, but private security providers are also attacking the attackers to help defend…
Public sector workers most likely to join the union Friday January 13, 2017 By Stephen Easton News While union membership is in general decline, the "public administration and defence" sector is now the most unionised in Australia's workforce, according to new survey…
Failure to launch: Defence misses contract savings Thursday December 15, 2016 By David Donaldson Defence Defence expected to save $1 billion through a new approach to contracting, but an audit suggests it may not see any savings at all. Two…
Procurement progress: Defence Innovation Hub open to industry ideas Monday December 5, 2016 By Stephen Easton Defence The Defence Innovation Hub is open for business, as the department embraces a new approach to procurement much like the Commonwealth's digital marketplace.
Learning from Chilcot: reform and the 'grinding' Defence bureaucracy Monday September 12, 2016 By The Mandarin Defence Mandarins in the Defence portfolio rarely make public comment, but rarer still are wake-up calls on the scale of the Iraq Chilcot report. Ministry boss…
