In this episode of NewsWrap, InnovationAus senior reporter Joseph Brookes and James Riley dive into the latest issues papers published by the Robyn Denholm-led Strategic Examination of R&D.

The Strategic Review of R&D (SERD) has published its first issues paper as part of its consultation process - this one looking at national coordination and governance of R&D spending. And the Tech Council gets itself out of step with other groups with a call to boost R&D spending target to just 2 per cent.

In this episode of The Commercial Disco, chief executives of the Future Skills Organisation, Patrick Kidd, and the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, Amanda Linton, warn of a 250,000-worker shortfall across finance, tech, and business by 2030. Kidd highlights the 70 per cent gap of current skills will change in just three years, while Linton stresses that AI is enhancing, not replacing, professions like bookkeeping, with employers now prioritising communication and critical thinking alongside technical skills. 

The Productivity Commission sets out in detail the massive upside for Australia in introducing AI tools across the economy.

But it also warns that the government financial support for building Australian large language models (LLMs) or the AI factories that train them is a terrible idea.

In this episode of the Commercial Disco podcast, Productivity Commissioner Stephen King says simply that government is “a terrible entrepreneur”.

In this week's News Wrap, editorial director James Riley and editor Justin Hendry discuss what came out of the Economic Reform Roundtable, why the Productivity Commission is against industry support for sovereign AI and the latest R&D investment projections.

When former Cabinet minister Ed Husic announced in March that government had accepted all the recommendations of its STEM Diversity review, it came as a surprise to many – including his government colleagues. The announcement was made before the policy had been agreed. Join Justin Hendry and James Riley for the week's biggest stories.

Catherine Livingstone has one of the best business brains in the country, and ahead of the economic roundtable in Canberra next week she has called for a bold, system-level approach to the economic policy discussion. She joins James Riley on the Commercial Disco.

Professor Tanya Monro is six and half years into her role as Chief Defence Scientist and says the urgency of the work within the Defence Science and Technology Group is the biggest change over that time.

In this interview, Professor Monro talks about the evolving structure of Defence’s technology and innovation infrastructure and gives a practical tutorial on the best ways that entrepreneurs and SMEs with specific technology can engage.

Copyright has become a central issue in the national debate about driving productivity improvements, and on extracting the maximum value from AI The Productivity Commission had its say this week in the first interim report of its Five Pillars review. Justin Hendry and James Riley discuss the week.

In this episode of The Commercial Disco, CyberArk’s Head of Public Sector Derek Moir joins InnovationAus.com publisher Corrie McLeod to unpack why identity -- both human and machine -- has become the new frontline in cybersecurity. As government agencies rapidly shift to cloud and SaaS platforms, Mr Moir warns that many are still lagging in how they manage identity, leaving systems exposed to escalating threats, including AI-driven attacks and post-quantum vulnerabilities. He calls for urgent cultural change, stronger governance, and embedding identity security at the core of frameworks like the ACSC’s Essential Eight.