The 2023-24 budget was handed down by the Federal Treasurer, the Hon Jim Chalmers MP, on Tuesday, and there are a number of funding allocations that are of interest to our industry set out in Budget Paper 2, including:
Privacy
$45.2million over 4 years for stronger privacy protection and enforcement – including:
- $44.3 million over 4 years for the OAIC to support a standalone Privacy Commissioner, progress investigations and enforcement action in response to privacy and data breaches and enhance its data and analytics capability.
- $0.9 million over 2 years for the Attorney-General’s Department to progress the Government’s response to the recent review of the Privacy Act 1988 and to support a separate independent statutory review of Part IIIA of the Act (Consumer Credit Reporting), with costs associated with preparing the government response to the recent review to be met from within existing resources.
Cyber Security
$101.6 million over 5 years to support cyber security in Australia, including:
- $46.5m over year years to establish a new coordinator for cyber security to ensure coordinated, timely and effective action across government.
- $23.4m over 3 years to Treasury for a small business cyber wardens program to be delivered by the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia to support small business to build in-house capability to protect against cyber threats.
- $19.5m to continue work to improve the security of critical infrastructure assets and to assist owners and operators to respond to cyber-attacks.
Additional funding to ACMA
- $7.9m over 4 years to combat online misinformation and disinformation on global digital platforms to reduce the spread of harmful content.
- $10.9m to ACMA and the Department to establish and enforce an SMS sender ID registry to impede scammers seeking to spoof industry and government brand names in message headers.
- Additional powers to ACMA through the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to minimise harm from online gambling, including to support the National Self-exclusion Register and also to implement a ban on use of credit cards for online gambling.
E-safety
$134.1m over 4 years to the e-safety commissioner to support Australians online, including through enhanced educational, outreach and investigatory activities.
Scams
$86.5 million over 4 years to combat scams and online fraud – including:
- $58m over 3 years for the National Anti-Scam Centre within the ACCC to improve scam data sharing across government and the private sector and to establish public-private sector fusion cells to target specific scams; and
- $17.6m over 4 years to ASIC to identify and take down phishing website sand other websites that promote investment scams.
Local news and media literacy
$9.1m over 3 years to support local news media and promote media literacy, including:
- $5m over 2 years to support sustainability of the AAP.
- $2.5m over 2 years to build media literacy in culturally and linguistically diverse communities; and
- $1.6m to develop the News Media Assistance Program and support public interest journalism and media diversity.
National broadcasters
ABC and SBS to receive $7.7 billion over 5 years between them - $6 billion for the ABC and $1.8 billion for the SBS, including base operational funding, funding to continue to support local news and current affairs services and the availability of non-English language news content.
Growing Critical Technologies Industries
- $101.2 million over 5 years from 2022-23 to support businesses integrate quantum and artificial intelligence technologies into their operations, including through extending the National AI Centre and its role in supporting responsible AI usage and supporting small and medium businesses adoption of AI technologies to improve business process and increase trade competitiveness.
Support for small & medium businesses and startups in the Industry, Science and Resources portfolio
- $431.9 million over 4 years to improve support for SMEs and startups, including:
- $392.4 million over 4 years to establish the Industry Growth Program to support Australian SMEs and startups to commercialise their ideas and grow their operations. Support will be targeted towards businesses operating in the priority areas of the National Reconstruction Fund.
- $39.6 million over 4 years to continue the Single Business Service, supporting SMEs engagement with all levels of government.
Budget strategy & outlook
In relation to the budget strategy and outlook, Budget Paper 1 makes the following comments on data, digitalisation and productivity growth (extract only):
“Underpinning many new technologies is the large-scale collection of data about people, systems and services by businesses. These datasets are a valuable input into models that maximise consumer engagement and have enabled platforms like Amazon, Netflix and Meta to appropriate a large consumer share. As these datasets become an increasingly important driver of innovation, they have become products in their own right, supporting services like advertising and market research. However, this commercialisation of data has implications for the protection of consumer rights, privacy and security, as well as regulation of competitive markets. The ethical implications of increasing uses of data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to shape consumer choices and automate business interactions are also attracting greater scrutiny.
Regulatory frameworks must continue to evolve in the face of technological change, as they have done in the past. This includes ensuring consumers benefit from the data held about them and providing for appropriate privacy and security protections. Better use can also be made of government data, with appropriate protections, as through the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022. The Productivity Commission has recommended policy changes to address gaps in protections for platform workers (or ‘gig workers’), and the Government is currently consulting on changes to empower the Fair Work Commission to better support employee-like arrangements. The Government also has a role in empowering Australians to have safer and more positive online experiences, with investments in this Budget supporting the ongoing role of the eSafety Commissioner.
Finally, new technologies offer tremendous scope for improvements in the efficiency and quality of government provided and funded services. This includes the care and support economy where, as discussed in the preceding section, better use of technology can free up more time for the human aspect of care work and support improved outcomes in settings that best meet individual needs and preferences. The health and education systems more broadly stand to benefit from technologies that make better use of the scarce time of workers in these sectors, and that harness new ways of delivering services that are more flexible and responsive to individual circumstances. Predicting the future of technological change is inherently hard. As with past changes, it is likely that the nature but not the quantum of work will change. A responsive skills system will help set Australians up to respond to that change and share the benefits of it. A dynamic and competitive business environment and fit for purpose policy will further make sure that Australia is well positioned for change.”