Australia will soon be facing a massive cyber skills shortage in the next four years, according to new research from BGH Capital-backed cybersecurity firm CyberCX and independent think tank Per Capita. 

According to the ‘Upskilling and Expanding the Australian Cyber Security Workforce’ report, the huge surge in cybercrime will leave the country short of 30,000 qualified cyber security professionals. This shortage will leave Australia heavily vulnerable to attacks such as ransomware and data breaches as there will be too many unfilled cyber security roles. 

“Cyber skills shortages are biting harder than ever, while at the same time the cyber threat landscape continues to deteriorate, exacerbating cyber risk for businesses, government and across the Australian economy,” the report says. 

CEO of CyberCX John Paitaridis says that while the country’s cyber skills gap is larger than what was previously forecasted, it can be resolved through the collective effort of government, industry, and academia. 

“As Australian organisations increasingly embrace digital transformation, we need to ensure we have the workforce capability to meet our nations cyber security needs, now and into the future,” he says. 

“Government, industry and academia must work in partnership to develop and expand pathways for a more diverse group of Australians to move into this exciting industry where there are an increasing number of smart, secure jobs being created and going unfilled. “ 

One of the gaps that needed to be addressed was the gender distribution in the cyber security sector. With over 68,000 cyber security professionals across Australia, women only make up 21 per cent of the workforce.  

“That’s a big lever for us to try and unlock,” Mr Paitaridis told The Australian Financial Review.  

While established training pathways from universities and TAFE have been busy with providing qualified graduates for the cyber security sector, Mr Paitaridis states that the graduates were not job-ready. 

The report states that academy-style programs sponsored by cyber and technology companies show great promise in enabling additional pathways into the industry.   

Following this finding, CyberCX launched the CyberCX Academy as part of the solution to Australia’s cyber skills crisis. 

“While there is no question that our world-class universities and TAFEs are critical to addressing the cyber skills shortage, industry can take the lead on initiatives like the CyberCX Academy to bring job-ready entrants to the market.” Director of the CyberCX Academy Rosemary Driscoll says. 

“CyberCX looks forward to working with government and industry to address our shared challenges in improving Australia’s cyber security preparedness and safeguarding the nations prosperity.” 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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