Australian governments faced a convergence of pressures that reshaped cyber risk. Threat actors had become more sophisticated, geopolitical instability had increased the likelihood of state-aligned attacks, and essential public services were more digitally dependent than ever before. At the same time, agencies operated within complex policy and regulatory environments that required demonstrable assurance over security, resilience and compliance.
In February 2026, the National Industry Innovation Network, together with Cisco and Splunk, published a report titled Securing the State: Strengthening Government Systems in an Age of Disruption. The paper provided a timely assessment of Australia’s cyber posture across federal, state and local government, government-owned entities, health, education and statutory bodies. It examined progress against mandated and recommended frameworks, including the Essential Eight, Zero Trust principles and the Protective Security Policy Framework, highlighting where uplift had occurred and where gaps persisted.
The paper also questioned whether existing approaches were sufficient in the face of emerging threats such as adversarial AI and quantum computing. For senior executives, this reinforced the need to move beyond compliance reporting toward confidence that systems were genuinely resilient. Without coordinated action, agencies faced heightened risks of service disruption, regulatory exposure, inefficient investment and erosion of public trust.
Key discussion points (past tense)
Interrogated the findings of Securing the State, including what the paper revealed about strengths, weaknesses and systemic gaps in Australia’s cyber resilience.
Tested the effectiveness of existing frameworks and how well Essential Eight, Zero Trust and PSPF requirements were translating into real risk reduction across government.
Evaluated preparedness for emerging threats, including the implications of adversarial AI and quantum computing for current security assumptions and controls.
Prioritised risk-based cyber uplift by exploring how leaders could use evidence to guide investment, capability development and assurance activity.
Explored how coordinated, cross-jurisdiction collaboration was critical to strengthening national resilience against shared threats and interdependencies.
Recommendations
The Public Sector Podcast: Government Response to Data Breaches: Privacy Lessons Learned and Best Practices
The AI-fication of Cyber Threats and other predictions for 2026
Midnight In The War Room
NSW Cyber Security Strategy 2026–2028
