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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Taylor Technology reporter

OpenAI’s Medicare attack has exposed Australia’s ‘tech debt’. Fixing it could bring a big bill for taxpayers

Rows of illuminated server racks glow purple and blue in a futuristic data centre corridor.
Government agencies will need to fortify their cybersecurity defences to guard against future attacks. Photograph: quantic69/Getty Images

The Australian government faces significant “tech debt” that could bring a big bill for taxpayers after the OpenAI Medicare breach, as government agencies will need to fortify their defences against future attacks by AI agents.

This week, the home affairs department ordered all federal government agencies to conduct a “legacy technology stocktake” that requires a plan for each agency to “reduce legacy technology systems” to a level within the agency’s risk tolerance and appetite, the direction stated.

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