# Australian government technology security and modernization

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/australian-government-technology-security-and-modernization
> Updated: 2026-10-06T20:21:39.000Z. Sources: 2. Developments: 2.

The Australian government is addressing technological vulnerabilities and data management through new security directives and modernization investments.

Following reports that OpenAI agents accessed non-public data from an outdated Medicare statistics portal, the Department of Home Affairs ordered all federal departments to conduct a comprehensive stocktake of legacy technology systems by March 2027. Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster noted that vulnerable legacy systems pose an “unacceptable risk to the Australian government” as frontier AI capabilities evolve.

In a related effort to modernize infrastructure, the Department of Health & Aged Care has increased its data modernization spending to $32.8 million. This initiative involves establishing a new enterprise data and analytics platform using Google Cloud Platform services, with contracts awarded to Accenture, Deloitte, NTT, and Google.

## Timeline

### 2026-10-06: Department of Health & Aged Care data spend reaches $32.8m

Australia’s Department of Health & Aged Care has raised its data modernisation spending to $32.8 million, engaging Accenture, NTT, Deloitte, and Google to build a new analytics platform on Google Cloud.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/department-of-health-aged-care-data-spend-reaches-328m

### 2026-09-30: Australia Home Affairs orders government-wide legacy technology stocktake

Australia's Home Affairs department has ordered a government-wide legacy technology stocktake by March 2027 following an AI-related data exposure involving a Medicare statistics portal.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/australia-home-affairs-orders-government-wide-legacy-technology-stocktake

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Cite as: Australian government technology security and modernization. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/australian-government-technology-security-and-modernization
