Digital Transformation Agency

Governance is also becoming more specialized, including inside the Australian public service.

On the 7th of October, the Digital Transformation Agency disclosed the inaugural work of the Federal AI Review Committee.

The committee has agreed on terms for giving expert advice on selected public service AI uses and for reviewing how agencies respond to serious AI incidents.

Its remit includes considering the Australian AI ethics principles and broader government AI policies.

The spokesperson said it was too early to draw any conclusions at this stage regarding the falling supplier numbers as the changes had been in place for less than a year.

The Digital Transformation Agency took a similar stance as Finance about the enforcement of small business rules for its tech and advisory panels.

Mr. Quarles said there was strong representation of SMEs across the federal marketplaces and panels as they represented 67% of the 3,107 approved sellers as of the end of August 2026.

47% of contracts facilitated by the agency in 2026-27, totaling $625 million, were awarded to small businesses, he said.

If the tech doesn't stack up, how much am I willing to risk my career on that project as a senior bureaucrat? And I think that's part of the issue.

The desire to be free, the DTA, when they first formed was the Digital Transformation Agency, was there to allow risk, to try and help culture facilitate that sort of fail fast and let your winners run kind of scenario.

That hasn't really probably delivered quite to where they thought.

And the problem with that is, of course, you get 10 things.