Crackdown urged on public service waste as lost, damaged phone bill reaches more than $1.5m

TAXPAYERS were billed $1.5m in 2016 to replace mobile devices lost or damaged by careless public servants, with Defence personnel the worst offenders.

Taxpayers were billed more than $1.5 million in 2016 to replace mobile phones and tablets lost or damaged by careless public servants.

TAXPAYERS were billed more than $1.5 million in 2016 to replace mobile phones and tablets lost or damaged by careless public servants.

Defence personnel were the worst offenders, which raises further questions about communications security.

Especially as many of the replacement phones and tablets are Chinese.

Reports this month suggested that more than 6500 mobile phones issued to Defence staff came from Chinese companies that the Australian and US governments hold security concerns about.

Forty Huawei phones and 6495 ZTE ‘Telstra Tough 3’ phones were issued to Defence staff as of March this year.

The Australian Government banned Huawei hardware from being used on the National Broadband Network in 2012, while a US House Intelligence Committee report the same year said neither Huawei or ZTE could be trusted “to be free of foreign state influence”.

FUMBLING FINGERS

Defence was last year required to fix 1031 phones and tablets that staff had damaged.

That’s almost half the total 2090 work phones and tablets damaged by public servants in 2016, costing the taxpayer almost $1.3 million to fix.

It cost an extra $255,826 to replace 340 lost or stolen devices, adding to the total bill of $34 million to supply public servants with phones and tablets over the year.

Senator Catryna Bilyk says the Turnbull government needed to do more to crackdown on public service waste.

Labor senator Catryna Bilyk, whose questions in Senate estimates revealed the cost and extent of device losses, said the Turnbull government needed to do more to crackdown on public service waste.

“Malcolm Turnbull can’t find the money to properly fund schools, universities or Medicare, but he turns a blind eye to $1.5 million dollars of taxpayers’ money being thrown down the drain on lost and damaged iPhones and iPads,” she said.

Senator Bilyk said the government’s “wasteful and reckless” approach to managing taxpayers’ money added to booming federal debt.

FRONTLINE SERVICE

A Defence spokesman told News Corp less than 6 per cent of the total workplace phones used by staff were lost, stolen or damaged.

“Defence takes security very seriously and has policies, processes and procedures in place to mitigate security concerns associated with lost, stolen or damaged phones,” the spokesman said.

“The percentage of lost phones is approximately 0.55 per cent of total phones issued, and the figure for damaged or faulty phones is approximately five per cent.”

He said Defence encrypted data on all handsets with classified information and required staff to report as soon as they realised a device was lost or stolen. Defence locked the device “immediately”, wiped classified and had the carrier block the SIM and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.

Here the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) conducts trials of new mobile device software to track the operation of an underwater vehicle used for mine countermeasures. Picture: Defence

Staff would then have to file a report, which would be investigated by their commander or manager.

“If it is found the individual was negligent with the device, they may be subject to cost recovery and or disciplinary action, or the relevant group or service may be required to pay the cost,” the spokesman said.

Nigel Phair, head of the Centre for internet Safety at the University of Canberra, said Defence’s procedures were best practice and other federal, state and territory departments should implement the same measures.

Originally published as Crackdown urged on public service waste as lost, damaged phone bill reaches more than $1.5m