So according to this article [1] the hundred million is for the renewal of the whole infrastructure including the supercomputer calculating the weather model. If this is true the supercomputer alone costs at least $10 - 20 million. This would make the cost a whole lot more reasonable.
> the cost breakdown included $4.1 million for the redesign, $79.8 million for the website build, and the site's launch and security testing cost $12.6 million.
> “Additional features, security testing and preparedness for website launch cost $12.6 million. This includes the build, test and deployment of feature releases, and performance and load testing to ensure the website can accommodate peak volumes of traffic we see during severe weather.”
Wow thank you. That's really expensive if it's just for the website displaying the processed data.
I just looked up the cost of the recent redesign of the weather service in my small country of Switzerland. And I don't think more than 10 times the cost can be explained by the size of the country.
The redesign of the website of the website of the weather service in my small country cost about $6-7 million and the project planning was $600'000. It seems like they hired the same company that did the previous website which makes sense since they spent the previous 10 years keeping it running.
plantain|3 months ago
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment/2024/06...
nhinck3|3 months ago
Maxious|3 months ago
> the cost breakdown included $4.1 million for the redesign, $79.8 million for the website build, and the site's launch and security testing cost $12.6 million.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-23/bureau-of-meteorology...
> “Additional features, security testing and preparedness for website launch cost $12.6 million. This includes the build, test and deployment of feature releases, and performance and load testing to ensure the website can accommodate peak volumes of traffic we see during severe weather.”
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/premium-prices-for-a-downg...
Part of the challenge is how obsficated the public records are - rather than being called "website" the contracts are disclosed as "Channels Platform"
Deloitte, $4m for design https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/cde4ad08-e9d1-4526-a407-5... Accenture, $79m for build https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/f506481d-0bbd-4776-a3f1-5...
lwkl|3 months ago
I just looked up the cost of the recent redesign of the weather service in my small country of Switzerland. And I don't think more than 10 times the cost can be explained by the size of the country.
The redesign of the website of the website of the weather service in my small country cost about $6-7 million and the project planning was $600'000. It seems like they hired the same company that did the previous website which makes sense since they spent the previous 10 years keeping it running.
unknown|3 months ago
[deleted]
latentsea|3 months ago