UPDATE 17/08: The Senate has voted to support the inquiry, which will be chaired by Labor senator Jenny McAllister and opposition digital economy spokesman Ed Husic.


ORIGINAL 14/08: Labor is pushing for a Senate inquiry into IT failures, as the Federal Government’s tech bill skyrockets.

Spending on technology by the public service and military establishment has risen from $6.7 billion in the 2014-15 financial year to $9.3 billion in 2015-16, with another $300 million rise forecast this year.

But some very prominent failures – from #censusfail to robo-debt, ATO website crashes and the recent Child Support tech wreck  - have smashed the government's reputation for being able to deliver digital services.

Labor is expected to move for a Senate probe into the Coalition's troubled IT spend this week.

If it gets up, the probe would see government officials face a parliamentary committee investigating the causes of the computer controversies.

With the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) having just been handed responsibility for the national postal plebiscite on same sex marriage, the inquiry will look at concerns about its readiness for the task given previous failures and recent job cuts.

Opposition digital economy spokesman Ed Husic said the inquiry is needed to provide more accountability.

“The government can't explain what went wrong and what it's going to do,” he told Fairfax.

“We see the Senate inquiry as a critical process to get a handle on what's happened.”

Mr Husic said such failures would be punished in the private sector.

“It would be surprising to see anyone holding onto their job,” he said.

The Senate inquiry would call for explanations on how government projects are governed and contractors selected.

Most of the questions are expected to be asked of the ABS, the DHS and the ATO.

The push for an inquiry comes after IT lobby the Australian Information Industry Association found just 16 per cent of respondents to their survey said the federal government was using technology “very well”.

Customers had much greater confidence in banks, telcos and shopping sites to deliver online services.