With a federal election on the horizon, there are fears among Australian start-ups that the tech industry is "going backwards" politically.
It was not long ago that Australians were promised an "ideas boom" on bus stop ads across the country as part of the Government's innovation agenda, but today that enthusiasm is harder to find.
Ashik Ahmed, chief executive of the workplace software company Deputy, says, ever since former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull left, here has been no interest shown at all.