Chapter 1Introduction
Referral
1.1On 6 December 2023, the Senate referred an inquiry into supporting the development of sovereign capability in the Australian tech sector to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee for inquiry and report by 30 June 2024, with the following terms of reference:
(a)the adequacy of current procurement policy settings across the Australian Government for supporting Australian tech companies, including but not limited to policies in the Digital Sourcing Framework;
(b)the challenges faced by smaller Australian tech companies in accessing public sector procurement opportunities, including but not limited to through procurement panels;
(c)opportunities for reform of government procurement policy settings to encourage the emergence and growth of more Australian tech companies;
(d)the use of non-sovereign-Australian tech across the Australian Public Service and the consequences of that usage on the strength of Australia's tech sector;
(e)the effectiveness of the Buy Australia Plan in supporting Australian tech companies;
(f)the level of engagement and consultation between the Australian Government and Australian tech companies, including, but not limited to, through the Future Made in Australia Office;
(g)the existence and effectiveness of processes for tracking the performance of suppliers, measuring and reporting on the full and timely delivery of outcomes, and sharing information regarding supplier performance across different government departments and agencies; and
(h)any other related matters.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.2The committee wrote to a range of key stakeholder groups, academics, government agencies, organisations, and individuals, drawing their attention to the inquiry and inviting them to make written submissions by 23 February 2024.
1.3The committee received 60 public submissions, which are available on the committee's webpage and listed at Appendix 1.
1.4The committee held a public hearing for the inquiry on 6 May 2024 in Canberra. A list of witnesses who gave evidence at the hearing is available at Appendix 2.
1.5Managing conflicts of interest is always front of mind for committees and the Department of the Senate. Consistent with the Senate and department's policy on managing conflicts of interest and consistent with good governance principles, a potential conflict of interest was identified and declared by a member of the secretariat. Arrangements were therefore made to ensure that the particular officer had no involvement in the drafting of the report to appropriately manage the potential conflict.
Acknowledgement
1.6The committee thanks all those that contributed to the inquiry by making submissions and giving evidence at the public hearing.
Note on references
1.7All references to the Committee Hansard are to a proof transcript. Page numbers may differ between proof and official transcripts.
Report structure
1.8This report is comprised of three chapters:
This chapter provides an overview of the inquiry, as well as an outline of the structure of the report.
Chapter 2 summarises the current policy settings for tech procurement, provides an overview of the Australian tech sector and unpacks the definitional challenges that arise when considering sovereign capability in the global tech market.
Chapter 3 sets out the key issues and options that submitters put to the committee for reform. It then sets out the committee's views and recommendations on possible measures to best support the continued development of sovereign capability in the Australian tech sector.