Australian Government Accused of Leaving Country in the Lurch on Cyber Security

Broken Ethernet cable in front of binary code and words "cyber security" in a photo illustration taken on March 8, 2022. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

The federal Labor government has been accused of leaving Australians in the lurch over cybersecurity after it allegedly removed 27 cybersecurity roles from the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List.

This comes as the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has said that it is receiving one report every eight minutes, compared to every seven minutes in the last financial year.

The shadow ministers for Immigration and Citizenship, and Cyber Security and Countering Foreign Interference, Dan Tehan and James Paterson, have called on the government to reverse the decision.

In a joint media release on Nov. 2, the shadow ministers said that it was extraordinary “that as Australia faces a growing threat from cyber criminals and scammers,” the federal government had removed 27 cyber-related roles from the list, making it “harder for businesses to bring talented cyber professionals to this country to work.”

Paterson alleged that the cybersecurity and tech industry had been shocked by the decision.

“Australia’s major cyber challenge is the lack of qualified experts, and skilled migration is a key part of addressing that challenge,” Paterson said.

Dangerous for Australians to Use the Internet

Meanwhile, Tehan said the decision had made it more dangerous for Australian internet users.

“Once again, under the cover of darkness, Labor have taken action that will seriously impact Australian citizens and businesses, and they have not explained the reasons for their decision,” Tehan said.

“Whose interests are served by making it harder for Australian businesses to bring cyber experts to this country to work to protect Australian citizens and their data? Australians need more cyber protection, not less.

“We need to make it easier for young, highly skilled cyber security experts to come to Australia to work and make a contribution.”

Echoing Tehan, Paterson called on the Albanese government to overcome “guaranteed delays and deadlock to cyber-skilled migration.”

“We need faster visa processing for cyber experts to make Australia a more competitive and attractive destination,” Paterson said.

Australia a Cyberattack Hotbed

Currently, Australia is experiencing a surge in cybersecurity attacks with over 76,000 cybercrime reports in the 2021-22 year, a jump of nearly 13 percent from the previous period, according to a new report by the ACSC.

The report comes after several cyber incidents targeting major public companies like Medibank, Australia’s larger health insurer; Optus, the second largest telecommunications company; and EnergyAustralia, one of the three largest energy companies. The defence department was also targeted, as were private companies Vinomofo, Woolworths’ MyDeal, and Medlab.

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The government has responded to the increasing cyberattacks by introducing an amendment to the Privacy Bill on Oct. 26.

The amendment will significantly increase penalties to organisations for serious or repeated privacy breaches, a move the Labor government hopes can compel businesses to do more on cybersecurity.

It will also strengthen the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme to ensure the Information Commissioner has knowledge of an incident and the data compromised.

“These amendments are targeted and measured,” Attorney General Richard Dreyfuss said. “They respond to the most pressing issues arising from the Optus data breach and other recent cyber incidents.”