Rodney Gedda

With programming traditionally performed in-house, the AFP will continue to create applications using existing resources, and will use service providers to undertake existing or new projects as required

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is turning to outsourcing in a bid to provide greater service and availability for its Passports Online, a Web portal that provides services for issuing travel documents. According to DFAT documents, business continuity is of "particular concern" to the department.

Australia's federal election this year will be the first to engage electronic voting that will allow blind or visually impaired people to vote at 29 locations. Special Minister of State, Gary Nairn, said the trial will be a first for electronically assisted voting at the federal level.

In a sign Canberra's skills shortage may be far from over, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will establish a fresh panel of approved service providers to meet its ICT service requirements and augment its in-house staff.

A collaboration that will investigate advanced delivery models for online services for citizens has been announced on behalf of the CSIRO ICT Centre and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO). Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre Dr Alex Zelinsky says existing service delivery models do not take into account the tasks a person is trying to accomplish or the context in which they are working.

The smartcard paradigm will result in better and more secure access to government services across jurisdictions, according to the Australian Federal Special Minister of State, Gary Nairn. In Sydney to speak at this year's Australian Smart Cards Summit, Nairn said building "communities of interest" would stimulate interoperability, which in turn would pave the way for more government use of smartcards.

Simplifying the procurement of information technology is the aim of the Australian government with the recent launch of version two of the SourceIT model contracts and user notes, a year after releasing the first version. Special Minister of State, Gary Nairn, said version two represents the government responding to feedback from industry and agencies.

Australia needs to increase the funding and expand initiatives to protect critical infrastructure if it is to avoid a cyber war similar to the one that has struck Estonia for the past three weeks, according to a Deakin University professor.