"The business case was to give ballpark figures of what the project will cost ... the role of lead advisor will be filled from the private sector and only when we have that level of detail will we know who is handling the registration. It may be Centrelink, Medicare or even Australia Post as it handles all Australian passports."

The Department of Human Services confirmed it will be starting an international recruitment campaign for a chief technology architect this week. The position of lead advisor of the project will go to the company that wins the tender to provide the smartcard.

ICT skills summit

A national ICT skills summit will be held in Queensland this week in a bid to overcome staff shortages, falling university enrolments and the profession's image. Organized by the Queensland government, participants in the summit include the CIO Executive Council, Software Queensland, National ICT Australia, the Australian Telecommunications User Group and the Australian Computer Society.