The scale and sophistication of cyber attacks is increasing. And they’re becoming harder to detect. Australian expertise, backed by the A$1.7 billion Cyber Security Strategy, is creating a more secure online world and driving the commercial creation of new and innovative cyber security solutions that have strong global appeal.
Demand for cyber security products and services is growing. Australia’s appetite for cyber solutions is expected to see sales grow to A$7.6 billion by 2024. Our cyber security industry has a reputation for creating world-class products that are swiftly incorporated into existing systems and platforms.
Australian expertise includes: secure mobility solutions, quantum encryption, AI-driven deception, IoT security, and cloud security.
Australia is investing A$100 million in a digital skills package through the Digital Economy Strategy 2030 that includes an expansion of the Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund.
Australia is also making an unprecedented investment of A$9.9 billion over 10 years in Australia’s national intelligence and cyber capabilities, creating significant opportunities in the Australian cybersecurity industry.
An ideal environment for cyber security businesses
With robust legislation, advanced law enforcement capability, rigorous policy development and strong technical defences, Australia is an ideal environment for developing and deploying advanced cyber security solutions.
Several of the world’s leading security companies have set up technical operations here, including NEC, which has built a A$4.38 million Global Security Intelligence Centre in Adelaide.
Other global security companies with operations in Australia include:
- Akamai Technologies
- Context Information Security
- iSight Partners
- NCC Group
- Ping Identity.
We’re a great place for startups. You’ll find more than 90 accelerators and incubators to help you network and advance your ideas.
AustCyber is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to growing the Australian cyber security ecosystem, exporting Australia’s cyber security to the world, and leading the way in cyber education. It boosts collaboration, innovation and participation in globally competitive markets.
- Australians spent A$5.6 billion on cyber security in 2020
- Gross value add of Australia’s cyber security sector is around A$2.3 billion
- 26,500 people employed in cyber security in Australia in 2020
- 43% of Australian cyber security businesses are exporting globally
- High collaboration: between 33% and 44% of startups partner on product and service delivery solutions
- By 2024, the Australian sector will generate:
- A$1.4 billion in additional revenue
- 7,000 additional jobs
- spending of A$7.6 billion on cyber security from local and international providers
Source: AustCyber's Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan 2020
World-class cyber security research capability
As home to some of the best cyber security researchers in the world, it’s no wonder we rank ahead of the US, Canada, England, Germany, Japan and Singapore for the quality of our research.
Australia is a popular test bed and launch market for new technologies – we’re ranked fourth in the world for patent filings in cyber security R&D.
And we’re all about collaboration. By bringing your ideas and expertise to our cyber security ecosystem, you’ll have access to Joint Cyber Security Centres in five of our major cities. These innovation hubs provide a forum for industry, academia, government and the research community to come together to share information and ideas in a trusted, neutral environment.
You can also partner with CSIRO’s Data61, the digital specialist arm of our national science agency. Collaborations with industry have led to breakthrough cyber security technologies like the seL4 kernel, which provides the strongest operating system security in the world, and the Personal Information Factor tool, which ensures that de-identified personal information within a dataset is kept private and secure.
Incentives, grants and support
- The Department of Defence offers funding through the Next Generation Technologies Fund.
- The Research and Development Tax Incentive encourages businesses to invest more in R&D through tax offsets.
- The Australian Tax Office’s New Investment Engagement Service gives tailored guidance on tax issues to businesses planning significant new investments in Australia.
- You can also access interactive mapping through CyberSeek that tracks the state of the local cyber security job market in real time.
- The Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund provides funding to industry and education providers.
The Cyber Security Growth Centre, AustCyber, is working with the sector to help increase collaboration, build capability, innovate and participate in globally competitive markets.
Activities include:
- delivering the AustCyber Sector Competitiveness Plan
- providing domestic and international collaboration opportunities through events such as GovPitch
- co-funding over 25 industry-led collaborative projects through a A$15 million Projects Fund
- fostering Australia’s cyber capability development through a national network of Cyber Security Innovation Nodes.
Factsheet
