AGP Executive Report

Housing Reality Check: New analysis from Cotality using 16 years of suburb data argues owner-occupiers drive long-term price growth more than investors, undercutting the political case for rolling back negative gearing and lifting capital gains tax. AI in the Wild: A report on Chinese AI models gaining traction in the US highlights cheaper, capable systems being adopted by developers and companies, even as US restrictions loom. Media Literacy Push: University of Canberra research finds a 60-minute course for Australians 55+ boosts media literacy and helps people spot misinformation, with gains lasting months. Tech Policy & Kids Online: Greens and others renew calls for stronger rules around AI and data centres, while France’s child social media ban adds pressure on global platforms. Emergency Preparedness: AusAlert testing and guidance continues, as researchers and advocates warn about how alerts should protect vulnerable people. Aviation Safety (Regional): Papua New Guinea is rated the safest in the South Pacific outside Australia, signalling improving standards for travellers. Energy & Infrastructure: Kwinana Freeway upgrades get the green light with extra lanes, while solar access gaps for apartment residents remain a live issue.

Emergency Alerts: Australia will trial AusAlert, a location-based emergency warning system using cell broadcast, with a nationwide test Monday (2pm AEST in most states; 1:30pm ACST in SA/NT/Broken Hill; 12pm AWST). Compatible phones will vibrate, play a 10-second siren, and show a full-screen “test” message even if muted. Student Visas: Australia raised international student visa fees by 25% to A$2,500, but ASEAN students are exempt from the full hike, paying only an inflation-adjusted A$2,050—part of a push to deepen ties with Southeast Asia. AI & Data Centres: The Greens are calling for a one-year pause on new consenting “AI data centres,” arguing councils approve behind closed doors and that current rules don’t adequately protect resources and communities. Health Tech & Policy: NSW is commissioning research to curb the “weaponisation” of therapy records in sexual assault trials, aiming to reduce trauma from forced disclosure. Energy Security: An Australia–India policy dialogue urged building resilient energy supply chains to prevent regional disruptions from cascading into broader economic crises. Mining Decarbonisation: Fortescue’s CEO test-drove battery-electric heavy haulage prototypes as the company pushes to electrify Pilbara operations by 2030.

Australian health tech: World-first CT-VQ lung scanning software has been approved for use in Australia, turning routine CT scans into clearer pictures of lung structure and airflow/blood flow to help spot complex conditions. AI reliability: ChatGPT suffered a global outage, with users in Australia and beyond reporting login failures, missing chat history, and API disruptions while OpenAI investigated. Privacy in schools: A new warning argues AI tools in K-12 classrooms are outpacing safeguards, leaving student and teacher data exposed. Energy & defence: Australia is testing a hybrid air defence system using existing military tech, as AUKUS funding and nuclear-submarine work continue to ramp up. Climate behaviour research: UNSW and Griffith researchers found everyday “green habits” don’t reduce support for broader climate action—small choices don’t replace policy push. Space infrastructure risk: A wildfire damaged NASA’s Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, highlighting how fragile deep-space communications capacity can be.

AUKUS Shipbuilding Boost: Australia has added A$4.6b to expand the Osborne naval shipyard in South Australia, aimed at ramping up industrial capacity for the SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarine program. Emergency Alerts: Australia is set for its first nationwide AusAlert test on 27 July, but dementia advocates warn the loud alarm could distress some older people, urging carers to prepare. AI in Customer Service: OpenAI has launched Presence, an enterprise voice/chat agent for customer support that can take approved actions and escalate when needed—raising the usual questions about permissions and monitoring. Cybersecurity Warning: UK agencies issued an advisory about LAUNDRY BEAR targeting Zimbra email systems with a “beehive” approach, urging patching and stronger monitoring. Tech Policy & Media: The Australian Press Council marked 50 years, spotlighting how accountability needs to keep up with AI-powered search and generative tools. Health & Apps: Research flags that nutrition apps using gamification can help some users, but may increase risk for others with disordered eating. Space Updates: SpaceX wrapped its 13th Starship test mission with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, including deployment of next-gen Starlink V3 satellites. Science Breakthrough: Scientists report the fourth transmissible cancer known to science—contagious melanoma in fish—a major step for cancer research. Data Snapshot: The 2026 Census is on 11 August, with ABS stressing it’s compulsory and crucial for accurate planning.

AUKUS & Nuclear Security: Australia’s nuclear submarine plan could leave behind weapons-usable uranium-235 for geological timescales, with experts warning the long-term security challenge and proliferation precedent. AI & Media: Reuters editor Alessandra Galloni warns generative AI is an “existential” threat to journalism unless publishers are paid fairly for the reporting that trains and powers models. Cybercrime & Scams: Westpac says scammers are in an AI “arms race,” using deepfakes, fake identities and longer con games to drain Australians—especially via social media. Qantas Ultra-Long-Haul: Qantas’ Airbus A350-1000ULR has landed in Melbourne after a 19-hour test flight from France, paving the way for future 22-hour nonstop routes. Australian Citizenship Rules: Home Affairs updated the 2026 citizenship-by-conferral requirements, including a 4-year residency rule, character checks, English, and a 75% test score. Commonwealth Games 2026: Glasgow’s Games are underway, with Team England taking the first gold as athletes from 74 nations compete. Sports Tech & Cyber: CyberCX extended its Rugby Australia cybersecurity partnership through next year, including World Cup home tests.

Health & Regulation: Australia’s medicines regulator (TGA) has warned GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may be linked to a rare but serious eye disorder (NAION), urging urgent care for sudden vision loss; Mental Health Tech & Trials: Actinogen Medical says its Phase 2 proof-of-concept for Xanamem (emestedastat) in difficult-to-treat depression showed clinically meaningful benefit that strengthened over time, with a safety profile supporting further study; Medtech Funding: NZ stroke-imaging startup Wellumio closed an oversubscribed $9.75m pre-Series A, with Australian investor Bioshore Ventures joining to push portable brain imaging toward clinical and regulatory milestones; EV & Manufacturing: Janus Electric secured $7.68m for North America expansion, while EKA Mobility plans CKD assembly in Ethiopia as it scales commercial EV deliveries across Africa; Autonomous Systems: Hong Kong approved Baidu’s Apollo Go for the world’s first fully driverless public road test in a right-hand-drive, left-traffic setup; Business & Markets: ASX slipped as global tech earnings (Alphabet, Tesla) rattled sentiment, while oil strength and jobs data kept rate expectations in focus.

Workplace Mental Health: A new Australian-focused study argues burnout support should start earlier and target root causes, warning current tools miss key symptoms and cost the economy billions. Math & Talent: China’s Hong Wang and Yu Deng win the Fields Medal, with the first woman winner in decades highlighting global shifts in research leadership. Marine Science: Researchers document killer whales breaking apart sunfish “for fun” off the Gulf of California, adding fresh detail to orca hunting and play behaviour. Earth Science: Adelaide-led work in the Pilbara finds 3.1-billion-year-old volcanic rocks carry signs of deep water recycling, pushing back when Earth’s water cycle kicked in. Emergency Tech: Australia’s AusAlert national test raises concerns for domestic violence survivors who rely on hidden phones, as alerts override silent settings. AI & Security: Australia and the US strengthen long-range strike readiness in Exercise Death Strike: Trident Fury, stressing allied munitions generation under pressure. Quantum Security: DigiCert reports quantum-safe encryption deployment is still stuck in planning, with only a small share of organisations rolling out protections. Defence Tech: Thales and Australian firm Visionary Machines team up on a passive drone hunter designed to detect and track drones without emitting signals.

Scam Warning: The UN says Pacific communities face rising threats from global scam syndicates, with organised crime running like “corporate franchising” using tech, AI and social media to steal up to $114.1b across Asia-Pacific in 2025. Workplace Tech & Politics: An escalator mishap at Labor’s national conference in Adelaide briefly rattled PM Anthony Albanese as he unveiled major workplace reforms. Road Safety Tech: The Asia-Pacific road safety program (SM4A4L) produced 17 projects, with data and AI used for helmet checks, crash databases and safer learner-driver support. Housing & Construction Capacity: Australia’s construction skills shortage is still a major bottleneck for housing supply, with economists warning there’s no single fix. Health Longevity: A Lancet study finds people are living longer but spending more years in chronic illness, pain and disability—healthy life expectancy isn’t keeping up. AI in Newsrooms: Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni argues young journalists can still learn core craft by “going out and finding news,” even as AI reshapes entry-level tasks. AI Marketing Startup: Obsessd.ai launches an APAC-focused service to help brands show up in AI assistants, using a visibility index to measure how models recommend businesses. Samsung Foldables: Pre-orders open for Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Fold8 and Flip8 in Australia, pushing foldables further into productivity and immersion. Housing Market: Domain reports Sydney house prices fell about 3.3% in the June quarter, the biggest drop since 2022, while units also slipped. Big Tech Cash Burn: Alphabet’s results highlight the AI spending squeeze: profits rose, but free cash flow turned negative as data-centre investment accelerates. Car Industry: Xpeng says it’s not targeting BYD as its main rival, while rolling out more models, charging plans and AI features in Australia.

Payments & Gaming: A new push in Australia’s online gambling market is putting withdrawal speed front and centre, with surveys highlighting how fast cash-outs can beat bonuses for player loyalty. Housing Watch: Australia’s housing boom has tipped into a downturn, with Domain reporting national house prices down 1.4% in the June quarter and units down 1.2% as higher rates and affordability bite. Online Safety Policy: France has become the first EU country to ban social media for kids under 15, starting Sept 1, with age checks required and existing accounts blocked from Jan 2027—an enforcement test that will echo in Australia’s own debates. Health Tech & Care: A global radiotherapy market forecast points to steady growth through 2031, while separate reporting flags how AI scribing can cut clinical paperwork load. Space & Defence: Australia’s foreign minister raised concerns over China’s “destabilising” nuclear-capable missile test, as Quad nations also reaffirmed support for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Agritech: Satellite crop monitoring is helping farmers compare conditions across seasons, including watching dry spells in Australia and monsoon delays in India.

Emergency Alerts Tech: AusAlert’s national mobile test is set for Monday, 27 July, with a 10-second siren to compatible phones—while states can still run their own warning systems once AusAlert goes live in October. AI & Privacy: A WA trial of police-linked AI facial recognition has scanned 130,000+ people in a week, triggering 19 arrests and raising concerns about accuracy and public surveillance. Big Tech vs Media: News Corp has countersued Brave over claims of “covert scraping” and AI resale of paywalled articles, adding to Australia’s wider fight over AI content licensing. SME Workforce: A ScotPac report finds one in three SMEs saw higher staff attrition in the past year, with stronger performers investing in stability, process and tech. Food Manufacturing Funding: FaBA’s $180m push aims to scale Australian food manufacturing by connecting universities and industry to move ideas to commercialisation. Energy & Data Centres: Australia is moving to make data centres meet power-use and creator-content rules, as the sector faces growing energy and environmental scrutiny. Mining & Materials: Strata Minerals expands Zelica gold tenements and plans a new aeromagnetic survey; manganese developer Black Canyon reports high-grade 41% concentrate from pilot DMS work. Transport & Safety: Australia and New Zealand strengthen a road safety partnership focused on heavy-vehicle workplace harm reduction. Space/Policy: Government plans a new phase for Australia’s space sector, alongside ongoing work on AI governance and regulation.

AI & Media Licensing: Australia’s biggest media bosses are pushing AI companies to pay for using Australian news and culture, with the ABC saying Anthropic has approached it for audio and video of how Australians speak. Health Tech: Researchers in Australia report a blood test biomarker (p-tau217) that could flag Alzheimer’s risk years before symptoms, while Adelaide/SA Pathology also point to DSG2 as a marker for high-risk multiple myeloma. Cancer Research: Recce Pharmaceuticals advances a diabetic foot infection treatment toward commercialisation, including an expanded Australian Phase 3 study and a proposed 10-year licensing deal across parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Energy & Climate Tech: Australia’s energy transition gets a boost as the government moves to legislate security and clean-power requirements for large-scale data centres, alongside broader AI governance and data-centre rules. Space & Defence Tech: SpaceX prepares a satellite-servicing mission to extend geostationary spacecraft life, and Australia-linked defence tech continues to expand with new autonomy and counter-drone orders. Sports Analytics: Preciser partners with Glory League to turn grassroots basketball footage into on-demand AI stats for players and coaches across Australia and New Zealand. Wildlife & Environment: New work on K’gari (Fraser Island) suggests even Australia’s largest lakes can dry up under certain climate conditions.

AI & Work: An Australian AI expert warns the “AI boom” could trap workers or cost jobs unless transparency and accountability are built in, especially for older staff who can’t realistically reskill fast. Road Safety Tech: NSW is set to trial PAWS, an AI wildlife detection system using thermal cameras to warn drivers in real time on a wildlife-heavy stretch of the Monaro Highway. Energy & Markets: ASX futures point to a weaker open as Middle East conflict stokes inflation fears; tech stocks drag while energy gains. Health in Practice: General practice is leaning harder into prevention with age-based screenings and immunisations, while separate research flags sex-specific links between certain vegetables and early heart/metabolic risk. Mental Health Demand: Australia’s mental health sector continues to expand as Medicare-subsidised psychology services rise, with demand especially visible in Melbourne. Cyber & Identity: Victoria Police recovered $1m in stolen cars in a crackdown on cloned number plates, with dozens of arrests. Startups & Funding: Insurance tech Cover Genius lands a $143m funding round valuing it above $2b, aiming to boost AI and acquisitions. Space/Global Tech: SpaceX shares nearly halve post-IPO after launch abort jitters, while Anthropic’s $1.5b copyright settlement gets final US approval.

AI Payments & Liability: EPAA and HSBC launched an APAC working group to define how “agentic” AI can make payments, focusing on liability, agent identity checks, and interoperability across payment networks. Online Safety & Kids: France is racing to pass a bill banning social media for under-15s, but the EU Commission says it clashes with EU law—while Australia’s own push to hold big tech accountable for child safety keeps heating up. Mental Health Drug Trial: Actinogen Medical says its Xanamem proof-of-concept trial results were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, reporting clinically significant antidepressant activity and no clear cognition benefit. Energy Transition Funding: ARENA rolled out a $10m co-investment fund for SME industrial decarbonisation, backing practical electrification and emissions cuts in manufacturing. Data Centres & Power Rules: Australia moves to legislate net-generator requirements for large-scale data centres, tying growth to clean energy supply. Health Access: Women nationwide can now access menopause and perimenopause support via expanded endometriosis/pelvic pain clinics under the $800m Women’s Health Package. Critical Minerals Tech: Iondrive appointed ex-BHP innovation chief Dr Grant Caffery to lead commercial scale-up of its IONSolv rare earth extraction platform. Climate & Heat: New reporting highlights heat and ocean warming as urgent public health threats, with marine heatwaves spreading widely.

Health Breakthrough: A new blood test could flag Alzheimer’s-related cognitive decline up to a decade early, using a protein marker (p-tau217) to estimate risk. Business Intelligence: The RBA’s first-of-its-kind paper maps what kinds of Australian firms are most likely to be acquired, pointing to profitable but unproductive businesses and patent-rich targets. AI & Policy: Labor is tightening rules on government use of AI decision-making, adding duties of care for big AI firms and guardrails for data centres. Data Centres & Water: Australia moves to legislate net-generator requirements for large data centres, while Southland’s water consent draws warnings over long-term impacts. Media Tech & Trust: Meta Glasses’ Australian launch sparks surveillance backlash, and Omnicom is dissolving Kinesso and Annalect into Omnicom Media. Cyber & Safety: NRMA/Red Cross research finds many parents lack basic emergency preparedness. Agritech: Halter expands virtual fencing in Australia, helping farmers remotely manage livestock. Mining & Tech Stocks: ASX tech weakness mirrors Wall Street, while gold and critical-minerals updates continue.

AI Regulation Push: Labor is moving to legislate a “Digital Duty of Care” for AI, with new rules aimed at safety, privacy, workplace impacts and how federal agencies use automated decision-making. State-Level Online Accountability: Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan unveiled “demasking” powers to identify people behind social media accounts accused of vilification, alongside lower thresholds for suing platforms over mental harm to children. Data Centre Pressure: The government is also tightening expectations around data centres, including guardrails on power and water use as the AI buildout accelerates. Wildfire Tech: Google-backed FireSat satellites are set to trial AI-powered early wildfire detection, including in Australia, after launching into low orbit. Blockchain in Finance: Chainlink is being used in central bank and token settlement pilots, with Australia’s ANZ involved via A$DC and cross-chain settlement work. Space Inspiration: Australia’s Space Week kicked off with “Space Day Out” in Adelaide, spotlighting young people and astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Health Leadership: Indigenous health leaders begin a Melbourne Poche Centre program to tackle long-running health inequalities. Road Safety Cameras: Research coverage weighs up whether intersection safety cameras reduce crashes and how much they should target repeat offenders.

Wildlife & Chemicals: A Murdoch University study tags Carnaby’s black cockatoos in WA’s Wheatbelt and finds they’re eating seeds contaminated by a “chemical cocktail” of 26 pesticides, with some levels hundreds of times above regulator limits. AI & Work: Labor’s national AI-era conference in Adelaide is set to focus on jobs, with unions pushing for protections as the government insists AI impacts are still “modest” and says a four-day work week isn’t on the table. Telstra Outage Fallout: Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume calls the Triple Zero outage a failure by both Telstra and the Albanese government, after warnings were reportedly missed and fines loom. Data Centres & Power: Australia’s AI push comes with new guardrails: the government rejects nuclear-powered data centres and points to renewables and firmed solar/wind instead. Energy Bills & Homes: After the battery boom blunted gas price pressure, attention turns to hot water—heat pump systems could cut household costs and emissions sharply. Ag Tech: Virtual fencing is rolling out across Australian states, letting farmers manage herds via app-controlled collars. Public Health & Safety: Researchers warn social media bans may shift teen risks rather than remove them, while foodborne illness risk rises for summer travel when cold-chain controls fail. Environment & Climate: Scientists say the Atlantic current system AMOC is slowing and could have far-reaching impacts, including on weather patterns.