Victoria’s first government tech chief steps down

Victoria’s inaugural whole-of-government technology leader Luke Halliday has departed after three years. Halliday joined Digital Victoria in 2022 as its chief technology officer and was tasked with modernising government services and leading IT transformation initiatives. In 2023, his role transitioned to the newly formed Department of Government Services (DGS), which absorbed many of Digital Victoria’s […]

Insurer Aflac investigating possible data leak

Health and life insurer Aflac said it is investigating a breach on its US network that may have exposed customers’ personal information, making it the latest insurance provider to be targeted in a cyberattack. Aflac said the attack was identified on June 12 and carried out by a sophisticated cybercrime group. An Aflac spokesperson told […]

WA Police Force to spend $30.8m on IT ‘optimisation’

The Western Australia Police Force will invest $30.8 million over four years in a wide-ranging ICT overhaul, as revealed in the 2025–26 WA State Budget. The initiative, dubbed the ICT Optimisation Program, will see an estimated $2.8 million spent in 2024–25 [pdf], with the remaining $28 million spread evenly over the subsequent four years. The […]

Australian Red Cross adopts data mesh strategy powered by Fabric

The Australian Red Cross is in the final stages of adopting a data mesh approach using Microsoft Fabric following a “false start” with a traditional centralised data lake model. The not-for-profit organisation began rolling out Microsoft Purview as its enterprise data platform during its multi-year transformation in 2023. However, it shifted course following the release […]