Digital Regulation Research, Forecasts & Analysis

How Regulation Squeezes Investment in Telco Network Resilience: What Needs to Change

: This week's Telstra outage has triggered an almost ritual cascade of condemnation from politics and media. But the Australian mobile network isn't getting more unreliable objectively. Rather, our dependence on it is growing. The only solution is more investment to meet this need. This report looks…

Frontier AI is Now a Weapon: US Recall of Claude Fable 5 Exposes Australia's and New Zealand's Digital Blind Spot

: The abrupt global suspension of Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 artificial intelligence models on June 12, 2026, represents a critical shift in the geopolitics of advanced technology. By using export control authorities to restrict access to software models, the United States government has…

SpaceX’s Starlink Ambition: How LEOSat Threatens Telcos’ Grip on the ANZ Connectivity Market

: This report explores the impact of expanding Starlink LEOSat capacity in the ANZ market, and how domestic telecommunications operators in these markets will be affected by growing competition from Starlink broadband and mobile services.

New Spectrum Taxes: Why “Business As Usual” is a Perilous Assumption

: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has finalised a $7.32 billion spectrum license renewal fee, a decision that has met with significant industry resistance. This report analyzes the disconnect between regulatory pricing models and the emerging reality of the digital economy, w…

Australian Government Must Win the News Bargaining Battle

: The Australian Treasury's consultation paper outlines a significant shift in media regulation, moving from voluntary encouragement to a mandatory levy system. By targeting platforms based on total Australian revenue rather than news carriage, the government seeks to close loopholes that allowed com…

In Defence of Australia’s ESafety Commission - Why Technology Needs Regulation

: This report analyses the growing global and domestic resistance to unregulated technology platforms, focusing on the Australian eSafety Commission's role. It explores the philosophical and legal justifications for government intervention in digital markets, drawing parallels between historical indu…

Australian Government rejects the PC’s TDM Exception for Copyright

: The Australian Government has decisively rejected the Productivity Commission's (PC) proposal for a Text and Data Mining (TDM) exception to copyright law. This proposal, initially framed as a way to boost productivity by allowing AI developers free access to copyrighted data for model training, met…