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Authoritative and trusted news on the Australian and international technology sectors. 💻

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It is now taking Australian companies an average of five weeks to make a hire, leading to a “ripple effect” impacting current employees and even leading some of them to quit.

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‘Ripple effect’: Long hiring delays taking a toll
Hiring managers losing candidates due to bloated processes.
ia.acs.org.au
December 18, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Tech giant Google says it will stop telling users of its ‘dark web report’ tool about data leaks as of February 2026, citing a lack of “helpful next steps” for those whose personal data appears on the dark web.

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Google shuts down dark web reporting tool
Service discontinued after less than two years.
ia.acs.org.au
December 18, 2025 at 12:43 AM
The US government has announced a ‘Tech Force’ to attract early-stage technology and AI workers to the public sector, just months after 200,000 federal workers were fired by Elon Musk’s controversial DOGE.

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US wants technology workers to join ‘Tech Force’
Mass firings have left a gaping hole in public sector.
ia.acs.org.au
December 18, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Over 100,000 Australians were charged for home delivered meals despite cancelling their subscriptions with delivery firms HelloFresh and Youfoodz, the ACCC has alleged in launching separate Federal Court proceedings against the two companies for alleged subscription traps.

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‘Sneaky’ food delivery firms sued over subscription traps
Customers didn’t even know they were subscribing, ACCC alleges.
ia.acs.org.au
December 18, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Australia’s national science agency CSIRO says it welcomes a $233 million funding boost announced by the federal government on Wednesday, but maintains it still needs to cut more than 300 full-time roles.

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CSIRO's $233m funding boost won't save jobs
Agency says it 'must retain savings' from research restructure.
ia.acs.org.au
December 17, 2025 at 11:38 PM
With another 12 months of news behind us, it’s time to open the installation file on a new year and ponder what we’re likely to see in the wild world of technology in 2026. 🔮

Read the full list here: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...
Six technology trends to watch in 2026
From more age checks to more AI at work — here's what to look for.
ia.acs.org.au
December 17, 2025 at 9:15 PM
ChatGPT is becoming the Swiss Army knife of productivity tools, with Adobe the latest to partner with OpenAI in a deal that will give the generative AI (genAI) giant’s 800 million weekly users free access to Adobe’s gold standard Photoshop image editing tools.

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ChatGPT users can now access Photoshop for free
Image editor joins Disney in going all-in with OpenAI.
ia.acs.org.au
December 17, 2025 at 3:48 AM
With another year of technology news now behind us, it’s time to look back at Information Age’s most popular stories of 2025 — as read by you. 👀

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Information Age's 12 top stories of 2025
Our most-read tech news of the year.
ia.acs.org.au
December 16, 2025 at 3:35 AM
With stubbornly high dropout rates threatening Australia’s skills pipeline, Victoria’s Swinburne University of Technology has introduced a novel solution: a new formal qualification available to those who fail to complete their full degree.

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Swinburne offers formal qualification for uni dropouts
Aims to engage students who fail 'outdated' three-year courses.
ia.acs.org.au
December 16, 2025 at 2:24 AM
A group of mostly billionaires has collectively secured the title of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2025, with the publication’s latest annual list honouring ‘The Architects of AI’ as generative AI (genAI) giants shed any pretence of risk aversion and put pedal to metal.

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'Architects of AI' named Time's Person of the Year
Lauded for 'all gas no brakes' approach to innovation.
ia.acs.org.au
December 15, 2025 at 11:24 PM
The ACT Bar Association has partnered with a local technology firm to provide barristers with formal training in the use of artificial intelligence, in what is believed to be an Australian-first agreement.

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Lawyers to be educated on using AI
Training, not punishment, deemed a better approach.
ia.acs.org.au
December 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Grok, the flagship AI chatbot of Elon Musk’s xAI, has promoted blatantly false information about Sunday’s mass shooting at Bondi Beach.

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Grok lies about Bondi Beach shooting
Chatbot spreads misinformation about Sydney hero.
ia.acs.org.au
December 15, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Online news and discussions platform Reddit has called on the High Court to review Australia’s social media age ban, arguing age restrictions have been incorrectly applied to the company.

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Reddit challenges social media ban in court
A ‘strong case’ for age-gated discussions platform.
ia.acs.org.au
December 15, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Australians travelling to the United States would have to provide five years’ worth of social media history, family members’ details, and other personal data under proposed changes to its screening system that also include scrapping its “vulnerable” website.

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Going to the US? Have your socials and DNA ready
Overhaul will scoop up personal data.
ia.acs.org.au
December 15, 2025 at 3:45 AM
As Australia rolls out its unprecedented youth social media ban for under-16s, many non-complying teenagers are about to discover the hard way that virtual private networks (VPNs) won’t be enough to trick the system.

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VPNs won't save teens from social media ban
Big Tech can identify young Aussies using the workaround.
ia.acs.org.au
December 11, 2025 at 2:52 AM
A landmark longitudinal study spanning two decades and 16,000 Australians has found that working from home and flexible working conditions can have a positive impact on mental health.

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Major study finds WFH improves mental health
Avoiding the daily commute has positive impacts.
ia.acs.org.au
December 11, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Medical regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved the Apple Watch's hypertension notification feature, which detects signs of high blood pressure, for use in Australia.

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Australia approves Apple Watch hypertension feature
TGA gives high blood pressure detection the green light.
ia.acs.org.au
December 11, 2025 at 12:55 AM
FEATURE: Would you resurrect a loved one using AI?

According to 89-year-old Alan Hamel, a beyond-the-grave rendition of his late partner is indistinguishable from the real thing, despite it appearing several years younger.

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Husband brings wife ‘back to life’ with AI
Would you resurrect a loved one?
ia.acs.org.au
December 10, 2025 at 11:42 PM
More than 4 million browsers have been infected by a China-based threat actor that published browser extension apps as a front to distribute malware.

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Four million browsers infected with spyware
China threat actor used extensions to steal data.
ia.acs.org.au
December 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The Australian government and the nation's communications regulator were incorrectly told that a person had not died following a fatal incident in September linked to a Samsung phone’s failure to call Triple Zero on the TPG network, a Senate committee heard on Tuesday.

Read more:
Govt left unaware of second Samsung Triple Zero death
Australians not informed for months of new fatality.
ia.acs.org.au
December 10, 2025 at 4:21 AM
There have been kid-free cruises and kid-free hotels for decades, but now social media is joining the trend – with under-16 social media users barred from a range of popular platforms as the government’s new laws take effect after years of preparation.

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Australia's under-16s social media ban begins
No more TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube or Twitch for a while.
ia.acs.org.au
December 9, 2025 at 10:25 PM
“Vulnerable” users of social media and other digital platforms have no recourse when tech giants ignore their problems, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has warned, in urging the government to expand its remit to better protect consumers.

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Where can you complain when Big Tech ignores you?
The TIO would like to help you – but it can’t.
ia.acs.org.au
December 9, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Former ACS President Dr Ian Oppermann will play a key role in consumer protection and competition policy, having been appointed to a five-year position as one of four commissioners at watchdog the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).

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ACCC appoints Dr Ian Oppermann as commissioner
Digital ID, CDR expertise dovetails with regulator’s priorities.
ia.acs.org.au
December 9, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Microsoft says it will raise the prices of its Microsoft 365 software subscriptions — which include popular apps such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel — for most of its business, enterprise, and government customers on 1 July 2026, including in Australia.

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Microsoft to hike 365 prices for business, government
Australian organisations will be affected.
ia.acs.org.au
December 9, 2025 at 12:58 AM
LinkedIn, Zoom and some of the world's most used websites were taken down Friday evening after web infrastructure provider @cloudflare.social suffered its second major outage in less than a month.

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‘Unacceptable’: Cloudflare outage takes down LinkedIn, Zoom
Web giant suffers second incident in less than a month.
ia.acs.org.au
December 9, 2025 at 12:00 AM