Oceania: Strategy

Australia's data centre sector is attracting significant foreign investment, but the regulatory landscape is rapidly evolving. Projects now face complex requirements spanning national security reviews, critical infrastructure obligations, energy and water constraints, and social licence considerations that investors must navigate strategically.

Businesses building AI products on third-party models face a critical intellectual property challenge: determining what parts of their AI systems can actually be protected when competitors have access to the same underlying models. This analysis explores where protectable value sits in AI workflows, from data retrieval and validation processes to system integration and deployment architecture, and why patent strategy must focus on the commercially defensible elements rather than just the AI model itself.

As AI adoption accelerates across NSW Government agencies, with 357 tools now in use across major public sector organizations, the need for robust governance frameworks has never been more critical. This bulletin examines the current state of AI implementation in NSW, identifies key barriers to responsible adoption, and provides practical guidance for agencies to strengthen their AI governance, risk management, and assurance processes.

Geelong played host this year to the 2026 ALPMA Summit + ALTACON Business of Law Summit, held 9–11 September at the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre. It’s the leading gathering for legal practice management and legal technology across Australia and New Zealand, drawing managing partners, C-suite leaders, practice managers, legal technologists and support services leaders from across the region.

Pick up any financial publication these days and you’ll read that we are entering an age where Artificial Intelligence will increasingly replace human interaction.

Business growth expert Mark Calleja joins The Cut to discuss why many SME owners remain trapped at the seven-figure plateau despite working harder than ever. Drawing from practical experience, he reveals the operational blind spots, cashflow mistakes, and mindset barriers that prevent businesses from scaling beyond their current limitations.

Last month’s National Vintage Report put the 2026 crush at just 1.27 million tonnes, down 19% year-on-year, the smallest harvest this century. Red production collapsed by 29%, and exports declined to their lowest level since 2004.

Pick up any financial publication these days and you’ll read that we are entering an age where Artificial Intelligence will increasingly replace human interaction.

Once the domain of government agencies, today the global space landscape is increasingly driven by private organisations pursuing a more entrepreneurial and commercial utilisation of space. We have come to depend on space-enabled technologies, such as satellite-based services, for everyday activities including navigation, telecommunications, weather forecasting, emergency management, banking, mining, agriculture and transportation.

Local government resilience depends on understanding how financial sustainability, cyber security, operational capability and asset management interact during disruption. This assessment framework helps councils identify vulnerabilities across these interconnected domains and strengthen their ability to maintain essential services when conditions change unexpectedly.

As AI adoption accelerates across NSW Government agencies, with 357 tools now in use across major public sector organizations, the need for robust governance frameworks has never been more critical. This bulletin examines the current state of AI implementation in NSW, identifies key barriers to responsible adoption, and provides practical guidance for agencies to strengthen their AI governance, risk management, and assurance processes.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs has introduced new skilled visa processing priorities under Ministerial Directions 121 and 122, fundamentally restructuring how applications are prioritized. Unlike the previous system that prioritized by location, the new framework prioritizes by sector first, placing specified industries at the highest priority regardless of whether applicants are onshore or offshore.