Political shifts could lead to changes in Australia's cyber security strategy.
Early in 2023, as the Australian government started to craft its cyber security vision, it met with opposition at both ends of the political spectrum.
On the right wing, the issue is the level of investment that the government wants to make and the level of importance it places on cyber security as a national concern.
The L/NP is known for austerity and cost-cutting, and its commitment to cyber security was AUD $1.67 billion spread over 10 years.
The previous L/NP government also specifically left cyber security out of its minister portfolios, indicating that it was of a lower priority to them in comparison to Labor's vision.
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More Australia coverage Lack of bipartisan agreement means a lack of clear cyber security strategy.
This is a problem for any companies or IT pros that are working in cyber and will therefore need to work to accommodate the government's changing regulations and approaches to cyber security.
There is a high chance the current Labor government will no longer be in power before the proposed end of the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.
This in turn means that, while the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy is asking the entire industry to start taking the steps towards an all-of-nation cyber security vision, IT professionals can't be certain the same cyber security strategy will be in place in even 2025, much less 2028.
Example of how political uncertainty can disrupt cyber security strategies.
For Australia to be able to meet the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy vision, one area that will need to be a critical focus is skills.
Australia has a significant skills shortage, particularly in cyber security, and addressing this will require government policy.
SEE: The Australian government's cyber shields strategy may intensify the current skills shortage.
There is strong opposition to the current migration system in political debate, particularly from the L/NP. While there is a chance the migration system won't change, the uncertainty makes it difficult for organisations to strategically look as far into the distance as the Labor government wants them to, and with the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy being a long-term vision, this is a challenge for it to deliver on its promises.
Australia needs a cohesive, bipartisan approach to cyber security.
As noted in The Conversation, the success of the Australian cyber security vision will require strategic decisions and some level of trade-offs and compromise.
Because there are significant changes in approach to cyber security involved, enterprises and IT pros need to be preparing for these changes now.
Flexibility in how cyber security is handled is going to be a key theme in the coming years.
If there isn't consensus on what those trade-offs should be and agreements on the long-term goal of the Australian cyber security vision, then it's going to be difficult to bring businesses along on the journey.
This Cyber News was published on www.techrepublic.com. Publication date: Wed, 03 Jan 2024 18:13:05 +0000