Secretaries Digital and Data Committee
Communique
Date: 24 September 2026
Secretaries Digital and Data Committee Performance Report - January to July 2026
The Committee considered the SDDC January-July 2026 Performance Report, noting progress in strengthening its focus on system-level digital, data, cyber and emerging technology issues, and the importance of clearly demonstrating its stewardship impact across government.
Members discussed sharpening the Committee’s focus on digital investment and risk mitigation in a constrained fiscal environment, and highlighting the increasing intersection of cyber resilience, safety and AI in managing system-level risks.
The report will be revised to reflect these themes before being circulated to Secretaries Board.
Reflections and next steps from the ‘Very Bad Day’ exercise
The Committee reflected on the Secretaries’ ‘Very Bad Day’ exercise, which highlighted the need to strengthen critical system prioritisation, improve visibility of dependencies, clarify coordination and escalation arrangements, enhance business continuity planning, and accelerate decision making during major cyber incidents.
Members noted the importance of keeping business continuity plans current and supported exploring a broader refresh through the Chief Operating Officers Committee.
AI, productivity and APS adoption
The SDDC discussed AI adoption and value realisation across the APS, Finance’s work to strengthen a shared APS monitoring and evaluation capability, and evidence base to support implementation, learning and scaling.
Members noted that evidence of benefits remains emerging and uneven across the APS. Finance is collaborating with DTA and agencies to strengthen the shared evidence base, while GovAI supports safe adoption and reuse.
Members discussed a consistent and proportionate APS approach to monitoring AI adoption and measuring and reporting benefits from priority AI use cases. This would include sharing relevant evidence and evaluation findings where practicable to inform implementation and reuse and, over time, scaling and investment decisions.
Sovereign AI capability: right-sizing the Commonwealth’s AI model portfolio to capture value and reduce dependence
The Committee discussed strengthening the Commonwealth’s AI resilience, noting risks associated with reliance on a small number of overseas AI providers.
Members noted that open weight models can provide a secure, cost-effective option for routine government workloads when hosted on government-controlled infrastructure, while frontier models remain important for more specialised use cases.
APS-directed data sharing use case pipeline
The Committee confirmed its commitment to ambitious data sharing reform and considered the outcomes of the APS-wide discovery and prioritisation workshops. Members noted that the workshops identified a pipeline of priority data-sharing opportunities focused on improving citizen control of data, enabling more proactive and streamlined services, and supporting better use of data across government. Members agreed to progress Tranche 1 use cases for further scoping. Lead agencies will test scope, ownership, data access, delivery pathway and authority, with further advice to return to the December SDDC meeting.
Subcommittee Performance Reporting July 2025 - June 2026: Deputy Secretaries Data Group
The SDDC endorsed the DSDG’s annual report for July 2025 to June 2026.
Other business
The Committee noted the next meeting would be hosted by Finance and would focus on data-driven government. Members noted the intended discussion would build on the Committee’s earlier scoping work and shift toward implementation, including practical opportunities to progress priority data initiatives across government.