The "multiyear" contract is specifically for development in the Java J2EE environment.

John Price, Australian head of NIIT Technologies, said the department has broadened the span of its previous contract and the current work will take "a couple of years."

"We are already established in terms of SLA delivery and quality," Price said ."Our specialist vertical market is in transportation, and also in retail finance and insurance, and we are picking up transport-related contracts in the government sector."