Approximately 200 jobs will be cut from Victoria’s IT shared services agency CenITex, according to a memo leaked to The Age. The cuts follow falling revenues at the troubled agency, as Victorian Departments struggle to pay for their IT services and internal savings from the Efficient Technology Services (ETS) program failing to materialise.
The Northern Territory handed down its Budget for 2012-12 on 1 May, with ICT highlights including $3.37 million to support online Territory tourism initiatives, an additional $1.47 million towards the $10 million expansion of a ‘virtual’ remote early childhood integrated services hub and another $1 for a student administration management system.
The Department of Defence has signed an $18.1 million contract with Fujitsu, described only as ‘IT Support’. The contract will continue through until July 2017.
Defence has also purchased $11.4 million worth of computers from Hewlett-Packard.
Contract notices have revealed that Accenture Australia was responsible for the development of the business case and implementation plan for the establishment of Service NSW, the consolidated citizen portal to the NSW Government which forms a key pillar of the recently released ICT Strategy.
Former Chief Information Officer at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Steve Foley, has left the agency as of 30 March 2012. Back in May 2011 DAFF restructured the senior IT position and Graham Gathercole has since taken up the top IT role.
Michael Coutts-Trotter, Director-General of the NSW Department of Finance and Services, has suggested that less ICT staff will be needed by the State’s public service into the future, foreshadowing possible cuts, according to the Australian Financial Review. He said that the NSW Government currently employs 5,600 ICT staff.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is looking to appoint a new First Assistant Secretary in charge of its corporate services division. Applications close 24 May 2012.
Queensland vendors and industry groups are reporting a major slowdown in the Queensland Government ICT market since the change of administration. Skillsoft state manager Jill Price told the Sydney Morning Heraldthat, “There's a freeze on work and everyone is just waiting”. Queensland chair of the Australian Information Industries Association Maree Adshed said that the spending halt was expected to impact the market for up to a year.
Minister for Home Affairs Jason Clare has announced an additional $7.9 million worth of funding to roll-out 20 more automated passport checking stations, or SmartGates to Australian airports, beginning with Sydney and Melbourne.
In his role as Minister for Defence Materiel, Clare also announced that Boeing has been awarded a $55 million contract for electronic support of the Australian fleet of Wedgetail aircraft, including software development, testing and repair of the plane’s advanced Electronic Warfare systems.
Government News has reported that Ricoh and BNS Group have joined forces to produce a Multi-Function Device that meets the Federal Government’s security requirements for faxing. Previously, fax options on MFDs could not be used by Federal agencies under the criteria of the Australian Government Information Security Manual.
Willoughby City Council has contracted BlinkMobile to implement its strategy to provide council services via mobile devices, reports ARN.
The President of the Police Association of Tasmania has said that outdated ICT support systems are becoming a burden on Police work in the state. He told ZD Netthat Police have to refer to as many as seven databases to conduct a proper background check.
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