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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! Its pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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https://www.seek.com.au/job/53662994?type=standard
EL2 Director, Facility and Security Services - ADHA
Randstad - Commercial
Sydney
Government & Defence
Government - Federal
$146,411.00 - $173,343.00
Full Time
Key Points:
- Brisbane, Canberra or Sydney based role
- Ongoing position
- Challenging and Dynamic position
Summary:
This is a leadership role suited to a forward thinking and driven candidate who places passion and modernisation at the heart of decision-making. If you're looking for an opportunity to turn your passion for Facilities and Security into a rewarding and high profile career - then this role is for you.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/concerns-over-sas-quarantine-tech-trial/
Concerns over SA’s quarantine tech trial
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
25 August 2021
Strict safeguards are needed around the South Australian government use of new technology for home quarantine, digital rights advocates say, with individuals to use facial recognition software and geolocation tracking as part of the trial.
South Australia launched a trial of home-based quarantine for people returning from NSW or Victoria this week. The pilot will involve participants using the new Home Quarantine SA app being contacted at random and required to provide proof of their location within 15 minutes.
This will be done through geo-location and facial recognition software. If the individual does not do this, they will be visited by SA police.
“Using innovative technology, the app provides geo-location and live face-recognition to ensure that people are compliant with their home quarantine direction, and ensures they are at their approved home quarantine address,” South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said.
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Australia's 'hacking' Bill passes the Senate after House made 60 amendments
Shadow Home Affairs Minister declared the Bill before the Senate was a better Bill because of amendments, and as such, Labor threw its support behind it. Greens, however, took issue with cops being able to take over a person's social media.
By Asha Barbaschow | August 25, 2021 -- 02:11 GMT (12:11 AEST) | Topic: Security
Two Australian law enforcement bodies will soon have the power to modify, add, copy, or delete data, after the Bill allowing such activity was waved through the Senate on Wednesday morning.
The Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020, now awaiting Royal Assent, hands the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) three new powers for dealing with online crime.
The first of the warrants is a data disruption one, touted as a way to prevent "continuation of criminal activity by participants, and be the safest and most expedient option where those participants are in unknown locations or acting under anonymous or false identities". This warrant gives the cops the ability to "disrupt data" by modifying, copying, adding, or deleting it.
Failure to comply could land an individual with 10 years of imprisonment.
The second is a network activity warrant that would allow the AFP and ACIC to collect intelligence from devices or networks that are used, or likely to be used, by those subject to the warrant.
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PJCIS recommends passage of Bill that will allow incidental collection of Australian data
Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill will align Australia with its Five Eyes allies, but will have stronger protections, PJCIS claims.
By Chris Duckett | August 26, 2021 -- 04:44 GMT (14:44 AEST) | Topic: Security
In less than a week, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has conducted a review into the Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill that will allow for the practice of incidentally collecting the data of Australians, and recommended it be passed.
The Telecommunications Interception and Access Act (TIA Act) previously banned the practice, but the government and its security agencies have argued that Australia has been falling behind foreign agencies.
"The challenge with the existing foreign communications warrant is that the interception of domestic communications (communications that both start and end within Australia) is prohibited, even where that interception is inadvertent or unavoidable," the PJCIS report said.
The report said this approach made sense when interception warrants were introduced in 2000, and the main ways to communicate where telephone and fax lines, which had "reliable geographic identifiers such as country code, city code and exchange code", but the use of the internet has changed that environment.
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26 August 2021
NASH SHA-2
transition webinar: what’s new in HPOS and what you need to know to support
your healthcare providers
Dear
Valued Partner,
Register your interest in NASH SHA-2 transition webinar: what’s new in HPOS
and what you need to know to support your healthcare providers
The Australian Digital Health Agency is providing a webinar for PHNs, clinical
peak organisations and other teams involved in supporting healthcare providers
in the transition from NASH SHA-1 to SHA-2 certificates.
Australia’s digital health system is rapidly growing and evolving and, as part
of that evolution, the Australian Digital Health Agency is working closely with
Services Australia, software developers, and healthcare organisations to implement
enhancements to the National Authentication Service for Health (NASH). These
enhancements will provide enhanced security protection for healthcare
information and reduce the need for healthcare organisations to manage multiple
certificates.
To provide stronger protection NASH SHA-1 certificates are being replaced
by NASH SHA-2 certificates and connections to digital health services must
transition to NASH SHA-2 certificates.
……
The webinar
will be recorded and the recording will be offered in the Australian
Digital Health Agency Developer Centre.
We look forward to continuing to work closely with you.
Date: Tuesday 7 September 2021
Time: 2.30pm to 3.30pm AEST
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9070137916248076299
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https://jobdispatch.com.au/jobs/secretariat-advisor-the-rocks-sydney/359089137-2/
ADHA - Secretariat Advisor
- Job Reference: 359089137-2
- Date Posted: 25 August 2021
- Recruiter: Careerone Partner Network
- Location: The Rocks, Sydney
- Salary: $86,534 to $97,625
- Sector: I.T. & Communications
- Job Type: Permanent
Job Description
Secretariat Advisor Salary $86,534 to $97,625
Opportunity Type Full-Time Opportunity Status Ongoing APS Classification APS Level 6
Closing Date 05/09/2021
Posted18/08/2021 Print
Australian Digital Health Agency Secretariat Advisor Sydney NSW, Canberra ACT,
Brisbane QLD Working closely with the Director, Secretariat Services, the Secretariat Advisor is responsible for provision of high level secretariat and the management of Board and Advisory Committee business.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5cd8d3dd-188f-42cc-9e7f-e8bb108f7b3a
Latest OAIC data breach report: a reduction in notifications but persistent concerns about cyber security incidents.
KPMG Law - Kate Marshall, Veronica Scott and Jason Kaye
Australia August 25 2021
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) now releases bi-annual reports on data breaches that are reported under the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). Its latest report for the period of January 2021 to June 2021 show 446 data breach notifications were received, a decrease of 16% on the previous reporting period. But the overall trends and takeways remain consistent over the last year - see our article here for our insights on the period, July to December 2020.
Key causes of breaches
Once again, malicious attacks and human error are the main causes of reported breaches. 65% were attributed to malicious or criminal attacks, 30% resulted from human error and 5% related to system faults. Phishing, ransomware, and compromised or stolen credentials were the main causes of cyber incidents, followed by social engineering or impersonation, rogue employees or insider threats, and theft of paperwork or storage devices.
The OAIC warns in its report that victims of ransomware, which it defines as “malicious software that makes data or systems unusable until the victim makes a payment”, should not assume they haven’t had a notifiable data breach just based on a lack of evidence that data exfiltration had not occurred. Given the prevalence of ransomware attacks, the OAIC have stated that there is an expectation for appropriate internal practices, procedures, and systems to be in place to undertake a meaningful assessment and implementation of protective and preventative measures.
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Sexual wellness industry fast becoming tech’s newest darling
Style & Culture Reporter, GQ Australia
Vogue Australia
August 27, 2021
You’ve heard of fintech, edtech, and maybe even proptech. Now there’s “sextech”.
Lucy Wark, 29, founded Normal, a Sydney-based start-up devoted to “sexual wellness”, earlier this year to meet a growing need for better sexual health resources.
This week, Wark, formerly an analyst at management consultancy McKinsey, launches The Modern Guide to Sex, a comprehensive sex education course for adults.
The 15-part course will be delivered by sex coach Georgia Grace, 28, via a series of video lessons and a downloadable ebook devoted to subjects including consent, confidence in the bedroom and “the anatomy of pleasure”.
Normal, which also designs and sells its own range of boutique sex toys, is backed by homegrown healthcare technology start-up Eucalyptus. It has hit $1m in sales in the past six months alone.
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https://www.themandarin.com.au/167030-australians-urged-to-have-say-on-digital-health-strategy/
Australians urged to have say on digital health strategy
Thursday August 26, 2021
Australians have been encouraged to influence the future of digitally-enabled healthcare by having their say on the next National Digital Health Strategy.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has this week launched a nationwide online survey on the strategy, which is expected to go live next year.
ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole said there has been an ‘unprecedented acceleration’ in digital health innovation, noting that more than 70 million telehealth consultations and 15 million electronic prescriptions have been delivered during COVID-19.
“Twenty-three million Australians with a My Health Record now have immediate access to their vaccination status and COVID-19 test results, plus their prescriptions, information on allergies and pathology and diagnostic test results,” she said.
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My Health Record to provide Covid digital certificates from 27 August 2021
· Health
· 26 Aug 2021 2:07 pm AEST
Australian Medical Association
Patients with a My Health Record can access their digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates from their My Health Record from 27 August 2021, if their vaccination provider has registered the date of their COVID-19 doses on the Australian Immunisation Register.
The My Health Record upgrade will also calculate the earliest date for a second COVID-19 dose in the Overview page. The date of the patient’s actual vaccination booking could be different depending on arrangements made by the patient.
Even prior to the My Health Record upgrade planned for 26 August 2021, patients can show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations by logging into their My Health Record immunisation history. This history will list all vaccinations, including COVID-19.
For help with My Health Record, patients can contact the Help line on 1800 723 471 (select Option 2).
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https://wildhealth.net.au/why-is-victoria-paying-more-for-a-covid-microsoft-deal/
26 August 2021
Why is Victoria paying $3.1 million more for a covid Microsoft deal?
Booking Engine COVID-19 Government Money Technology
Victoria is the latest government to see a bump in the final cost of a covid contract after relying on an incumbent supplier.
It bought vaccine management software from Microsoft in January for a headline fee of $5.8 million. The final total, listed on the Buying for Victoria public tender website, came in at $9.1 million.
Microsoft did not respond to inquiries about why the final bill was $3.1 million higher. The Victoria Department of Health and Human Services Victoria said the details were commercial and therefore confidential.
The Microsoft deal was criticised when the platform was still not working by June and local rival for the contract, HotDoc, offered to provide an interim service.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/how-much-are-the-specialist-pms-vendors-worth/
25 August 2021
How much are the specialist PMS vendors worth?
In the Telstra press conference announcing its purchase of iconic patient-management-system vendor Medical Director for $350 million a couple of weeks back, a question about other possible acquisitions in the pipeline was quickly batted back, with a suggestion that the group now had significant positions in every major sector of healthcare in the country.
The company’s chair, Brendan Riley, cited its positions in aged care, pharmacy, hospitals, community care, Indigenous care, analytics and national health platforms.
Medical Director puts Telstra Health firmly in what is the most important future transactional hub for healthcare in the country – primary care – and with small but growing positions in hospitals and aged care, the company can look to integrated solutions for interoperability between each of these islands of patient data.
But what about specialists? What about allied health, for that matter?
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Reining in the digital giants
RICHARD ALSTON
History is replete with examples of monopolies exercising unacceptable power to the detriment of consumers and having to be curbed by regulation or even break up – think Standard Oil and AT & T. And now, as we move deeper into the 21st-century, regulators face similar challenges, with the inexorable growth of gargantuan tech platforms such as Apple, Google, and Facebook. It‘s deja vu all over again.
In the 1990s, governments and regulators recognised the need to open up the fixed line telecommunications bottleneck that was holding back competition, investment, and innovation and which, if addressed, would reduce prices, and deliver better quality of service for consumers and business users.
Entrenched telco monopolies swore blind the world would come to an end if the last mile of the copper networks they controlled was opened up to third parties. They fought tooth and nail against policymakers and regulators for years, ultimately all to no avail. The market was opened up, the local loop unbundled, and anti-competitive conduct was clamped down upon, in Australia through bespoke telecommunications powers that were legislated with strong cross-party support. Opening up the telecommunications sector resulted in the entry of a plethora of new carriers and service providers, driving down prices and offering real choice for consumers.
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Apple’s core problems after 10 years of Tim Cook
The Apple will surely fall, even if ever so slowly.
When Tim Cook took the helm from Steve Jobs, the firm’s co-founder, a decade ago, even the most boosterish Apple fanboys worried that the company was destined to decline.
Without Apple’s original Willie Wonka, the digital chocolate factory was about to be run by an automaton who made his career organising global supply chains and scrutinising spreadsheets. How could someone with so little dazzle inspire Apple employees to continue creating “insanely great” products, in Jobs’s famous formulation?
It turned out Mr Cook could. As he celebrates his 10th anniversary as Apple’s boss on Tuesday, no one is likely to make a peep. And for good reason. He has staged what is arguably the greatest succession success in tech, an industry littered with managers who failed in the effort to follow in the founders’ footsteps. In fact, in pure financial terms, he has been a far more successful chief executive than the late Jobs, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer six weeks after stepping down.
No CEO in history has created as much total shareholder value as Mr Cook. When he took over the company had a market value of $US349bn ($485bn). Today it is worth $US2.5 trillion, more than any other listed firm ever.
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Wednesday, 25 August 2021 18:48
Data breaches: health sector still worst performer, says Thales chief
The most recent data breach report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has something of a silver lining, but not as far as the health sector goes, the ANZ chief of a security firm says.
Brian Grant, ANZ director at Thales, said the 16% drop in breaches from the previous reporting period and the apparent holding of the data privacy ground against increasing malicious or criminal attacks was good news.
"Yet, if you are a customer of the health sector, and under the current circumstances we almost all are, there is nothing to smile about as this sector continues to be the worst performer of any industry," Grant said.
"This is disappointing for an industry which is focused on patient care and outcomes."
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-developing-single-front-door-for-data-access-requests-569065
Govt developing "single front door" for data access requests
By Justin Hendry on Aug 26, 2021 6:50AM
‘Dataplace’ revealed ahead of sweeping new sharing regime.
The federal government is developing a digital platform that will serve as a “single front door” for third-parties to access public sector data under its sweeping new data sharing regime.
The Office of the National Data Commissioner (ONDC) revealed plans for the data request platform, called ‘Dataplace’, last week in preparation for the Data Availability and Transparency (DAT) scheme.
Legislation that will pave the way for DAT, which Labor have described as “deeply flawed”, is currently before parliament, awaiting changes recommended by a senate committee in April.
The bill aims to make public sector data sharing easier by creating an alternative pathway that bypasses some 500 data secrecy and confidentiality provisions in 157 piece of existing legislation.
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https://www.dorevitch.com.au/patients/receiving-results/
Receiving Results
Receiving Results
Doctors and patients rely on Dorevitch Pathology to deliver timely and accurate results. Our Results Department is responsible for disseminating critical patient information, ensuring this is performed in a prompt and professional manner that maintains patient privacy.
Results are delivered to referring Practitioners once testing is completed. As a patient, it is best that you attend a consultation with your doctor to discuss your test results as even “normal” test results may require further medical investigation.
My Health Record
We are connected to the My Health Record system, operated by the Australian Government. For tests that are bulk-billed we will send a copy of your pathology test results to your My Health Record unless you specify on the form for us not to send a copy. You will be able to view these results seven days after we have completed the tests.
You can manage access controls within the My Health Record system for any results we upload. If you never wish to receive any results from us in your My Health Record, or you need to change consent for upload for a recent visit, you can also call us via the Contact Us information.
We are unable to upload results issued prior to November 2020.
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https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/my-digital-health-record-tickets-165853346825?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Sep. 22 2021
My Digital Health Record
by City of Bayswater Libraries
Free ADHA Propaganda
Event Information
Find out more about the Federal Government's new My Health Record.
About this event
Learn how to access your new My Health Record, and why it's important to keep it up to date. You will learn how to manage your My Health Record to share the information you want with your healthcare providers.
Date and time
Wed., 22 September 2021
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm AWST
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https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/?Id=1d69791f-32a1-4b0d-8df8-948eeea08a56
Contract Notice View - CN3741573-A1
AusTender holds Contract and Standing Offer Notices for the 07/08 financial year forward. For information related to previous years, please refer to https://data.gov.au/dataset/historical-australian-government-contract-data.
Subcontractors: For Commonwealth contracts that started on or after 1 December 2008, agencies are required to provide the names of any associated subcontractors on request. Information on subcontractors can be sought directly from the relevant agency through the Agency Contact listed in each Contract Notice.
Personnel recruitment
Agency Details
Contact Name: Agency Contracts
Email Address: contracts@digitalhealth.gov.au
Office Postcode: 2606
CN ID: CN3741573-A1
Agency: Australian Digital Health Agency
Amendment Publish Date: 2-Aug-2021
Category: Personnel recruitment
Contract Period: 7-Dec-2020 to 30-Jun-2022
Contract Value (AUD): $234,850.50
Amendment Value (AUD): $151,974.22
Amendment Start Date: 29-Jun-2021
Description: Personnel recruitment
Parent CN: CN3741573
Procurement Method: Open tender
ATM ID: DH3150V
SON ID: SON3557594
Agency Reference ID: DH3150
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https://nationalstrategy.digitalhealth.gov.au/
The future of health is digital
Australians are more digitally connected now than ever before - 9 out of 10 of us own a smartphone and are accessing all sorts of services online. Now’s your chance to influence the future of health in Australia by taking part in the digital health survey and letting us know what you think.
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The other pandemic threatening our health: online misinformation
Joanne Orlando
Digital literacy analyst
August 25, 2021 — 5.00am
There are two pandemics happening right now, a medical one and an information one. Both wildly destructive to our health.
We have been inundated with a massive wave of information since the Delta outbreak in Sydney began. Every intricacy about each vaccine, stay-at-home orders for every region, government grants. The next day more explosive intricacies and details about the vaccine, new stay-at-home orders, new government grant analysis.
Then we have every person weighing in on all of this on social media. About 6000 tweets are posted onto Twitter every second. That’s 350,000 tweets a minute or 500 million tweets a day. “COVID NSW” has been trending for weeks, full of tweets devoted to giving us even more information, opinions, criticisms about COVID-19. The same thing is happening on Facebook, Reddit, WhatsApp, websites and blogs. The list goes on and on.
We are mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted from information overload. The problem is that that exhaustion can encourage us to step out of the mainstream news and seek out simpler information and solutions. I’ve been told multiple times by friends and colleagues lately that they have stopped listening to “The News”, stating that it’s too much and that they’re losing hope.
Hello misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories! Posts on WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook present extreme yet easy to understand solutions. Such posts are everywhere and because we are information-tired they are becoming our quick-fix, go-to place to keep up to date.
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Digital Health Institute Summit postponed
Dear Colleague,
Our national conference is one of the most uplifting and energised events on the national healthcare calendar. It’s the place to meet friends, colleagues and everyone passionate about the potential for healthcare in the digital age.
Traveling to the conference from all over Australia is part of the unique experience. Sadly, we know many of our Fellows, Members and others across the digital health community will be unable to travel interstate in the current circumstances surrounding COVID.
So, to ensure the experience of national conference continues to be simply the best networking and educational event possible, we have made the decision to postpone the Digital Health Institute Summit which was to be held in Melbourne in October.
The Summit will now be held in Melbourne and online from Monday 21 - Tuesday 22 February 2022.
By February, vaccination rates will continue to rise and there will hopefully be more opportunity to attend the national conference in person.
I’d like to give a big shout out to everyone getting their jab, and to all of the healthcare professionals and AIDH members supporting the vaccine rollout and caring for those hospitalised with COVID.
I would like to thank all the 127 speakers and all our sponsors and exhibitors for supporting the change of date.
I can’t express enough how much I’m looking forward to spending time with each and every one of you in 3D in February. Also, stay tuned for details of an online get together we are planning to keep you connected in October.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further clarification or information. We will continue to communicate regularly with you on the Melbourne Digital Health Institute Summit 2022.
Kind regards,
Dr Louise Schaper PhD FAIDH FIAHSI CHIA BSc(OT)Hons
CEO, AIDH
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e7227f1e-2788-4b03-87f9-f0f3719ca89f
An app for that? What do developers of software-based medical devices need to know?
King & Wood Mallesons Suzy Madar, Kim O'Connell and Matthew Swinn
Australia August 23 202
1 Overview
The increasing pace of digital health, wearables, and apps generally have spawned an increasing number of innovative software-based products that are able to assist with, or may aim to replace, conventional medical decisions and treatments. These range from wearable technology that allows users to track their heartrate for fitness purposes, to software intended to analyse cardiac MRIs and make related diagnoses. Given the potential therapeutic and diagnostic uses of such products, Australia’s medical devices regulator, the TGA, has taken an increasing interest in their regulation – and has fortunately liberalised some regulatory requirements.
The TGA has released recent guidance to accompany the reforms, which will assist to guide developers and “sponsors” of devices in the Australian market.
1.1 What has changed?
In Australia, software-based medical devices are regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and must be included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) before they can be legally supplied, except where an exemption applies.
Recent legislative amendments[1] seek to better equip the scheme to deal with the increasing number of software-based medical devices available on the market.
These changes have introduced:
- “carve-outs” (i.e. exclusions and an exemption) for certain software products so that they are not subject to TGA regulation;
- new classification rules for software-based medical devices; and
- updates to the Essential Principles which clarify the mandatory requirements for sponsors and manufacturers of medical devices.
1.2 What do I need to do now?
These amendments are now in place, having commenced on 25 February 2021, subject to transitional provisions discussed below. Businesses who are involved in, or invest in, the digital health and apps need to familiarise themselves with the new amendments to ensure they comply with—and take advantage of—these regulations going forward. In particular, ‘carve-outs’ given to specific types of software products may facilitate easier access to the market in Australia.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/has-facebook-turned-the-corner-on-disinformation-20210820-p58kgg
Anti-vaxxer ‘rubbish’ declining on Facebook: GPs
John Davidson Columnist
Aug 23, 2021 – 12.12pm
Facebook has stemmed the tide of COVID-19 disinformation on its platform and is now part of the solution to anti-vaxxer “rubbish”, rather than part of the problem, Australia’s peak body for general practitioners has said.
Just a year after the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners warned that Facebook and Twitter were holding back the battle against COVID-19 through their continual publication of “dangerous anti-vaxxer messaging”, the RACGP has applauded Facebook, citing its recent de-platforming of groups like Reignite Democracy Australia as a pivotal moment in the war against COVID-19 disinformation.
“They’re now very strong on making sure the pro-vaccine message is as strong as can be, which is very important given the number of people who use Facebook,” RACGP president Karen Price said.
“Anyone who is taking a stance against anti-vax rubbish is part of the solution, for sure,” she said.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=93535e6d-e3c4-4f1f-b360-f486fafb8c5c
What Computers See, What They Don’t and What They Shouldn’t
Gilbert + Tobin - Bryce Craig, Jen Bradley and Peter Waters
Australia August 18 2021
There’s a special indignity that comes with chasing an evasive mosquito through your house. That’s why one Israeli start-up has created what its founder dubs “the Iron Dome for mosquitos”.
When Bzigo’s ‘autonomous mosquito detection solution’ spots a mosquito, it uses a low energy laser to pinpoint the pest in situ and sends your phone an alert. While the current version leaves the mosquito destruction to you, the company is developing a model that will zap the pesky insects straight out of the sky!
And while this particular product has a certain ‘As Seen On TV’ novelty to it, the technology behind it, computer vision, also happens to be one of the most promising fields of AI.
Computer vision
Put simply, computer vision gives computers the gift of sight, enabling recognition of what is going on in a given piece of visual media.
Stanford’s recent Artificial Intelligence Index Report identifies computer vision as one of the most rapidly industrialising field of machine learning, with computer vision systems reaching human-level performance in recent years. This accelerated development can be attributed to the shift toward more autonomous, deep learning methods, as well as better (and cheaper) hardware.
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Facebook admits top-performing post cast doubt on coronavirus vaccine
By Elizabeth Dwoskin
August 22, 2021 — 3.27pm
Washington: Facebook has revealed that an article raising concerns that the coronavirus vaccine could lead to death was the top performing US link on its platform from January to March this year, acknowledging the widespread reach of such material for the first time.
It also said another site that pushed COVID-19 misinformation was also among the top 20 most visited pages on the platform.
Facebook earlier this year faced a torrent of criticism from President Joe Biden and others who have alleged that the company has allowed misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to flourish. White House officials have alleged that many Americans are reticent to take the coronavirus vaccine, in part, because of false or misleading information they have read on social media services, including Facebook.
In releasing a report that the company had previously shelved, Facebook attempted to push back against critics, arguing that the definition of health misinformation is often less black and white than what some would make it seem.
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Been bombarded by spam texts and ghost phone calls? You’re not alone
By Lisa Visentin
August 22, 2021 — 12.00am
Garbled text messages and ghost calls are hitting mobile phones across the country in a new wave of scams, including one that promises a voicemail from a friend but delivers malware designed to steal your passwords and data.
The “Flubot” scam began circulating in early August, targeting android phones with an often misspelt SMS message about a missed call and a malicious link that, when clicked, can harvest your contact list to spread further.
The competition watchdog has received more than 3700 reports of the Flubot scam since the first report on August 4, a record for a single scam, and is receiving about 500 reports of SMS-related scams a day.
Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which runs the Scamwatch website, said Flubot prompted users to download an app which installed malware – similar to a computer virus – that could access personal data and banking details.
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ASX system that led to full-day outage was not ready to go live: report
By Charlotte Grieve
August 23, 2021 — 10.28am
The country’s largest stock exchange has been slammed by an independent review for sending a new technology system live with inadequate testing, extensive defects and poor project delivery management, leading to a crippling ASX outage.
The ASX suffered a full-day trading outage last November, caused by glitches in the launch of matching system ASX Trade which tripped the entire system causing the worst outage in four years for the local bourse.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Reserve Bank of Australia considered the outage a “significant concern” for market stability and organised for the ASX to enlist consulting firm IBM Australia to undertake an independent external review.
The report’s findings, released on Monday, determined the ASX had met or exceeded industry standards in more than 75 per cent of capabilities assessed but also highlighted “gaps in the rigour” across risk management, project delivery, testing and incident management.
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Comments more than welcome!
David.
