Measuring, accelerating and sustaining Australia’s thriving cyber security sector

Cyber security continues to be one of the most rapidly expanding sectors worldwide, with global spending on cyber security products and services increasing by 30 per cent from 2017 to 2020. This year alone, Australians spent approximately A$5.6 billion on cyber security from both local and international providers, a figure that is expected to increase to A$7.6 billion by 2024. 

 The 2020 update to Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan, also known as the SCP, draws on extensive industry consultation and research to provide a fresh picture of the global outlook, challenges, opportunities and priority actions needed to grow a vibrant and globally competitive cyber security sector that enhances Australia’s future economic growth. 

Last year’s deep dive explored the underlying structural challenges of not yet having robust measurement of the sector’s development. This year, through market and administrative data, as well as insights from AustCyber’s inaugural sector-wide Digital Census, we have produced the first comprehensive measurement of the Australian cyber security sector – including state-by-state analysis.  

These fresh insights have allowed us to uncover the current state of the sector, outline the potential for the next growth phase and describe how to accelerate the momentum the sector has developed over the past five years. 

In episode five of ‘OzCyber Unlocked’, we speak to Toby Brennan (COO and Director, AlphaBeta Australia, part of Accenture), Jacqui Nelson (CEO, Dekko Secure), Gemma Cosgriff (National Head of Partnerships, Stone & Chalk) and Dr Tobias Feakin (Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) about how the data was collected and analysed, market barriers, strategies for growth, and how we can capture global export opportunities.  

This month’s ‘cyber spotlight’ features Andrew Eddy from Untapped. Untapped is a network of autism professionals, recruiters, software developers, training providers, researchers and workplace consultants, all passionate about neurodiversity inclusion. Their mission is to build high-performing teams from groups of highly skilled individuals. They look for commercially compelling opportunities in organisations for neurodiverse teams and uncover extraordinary individuals to form those teams.  

For more information about the organisations featured, visit:

• Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan: https://www.austcyber.com/resources/sector-competitiveness-plan
• AlphaBeta Australia (part of Accenture): www.alphabeta.com
• Dekko Secure: www.decuresecure.com
• Stone & Chalk: www.stoneandchalk.com.au
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: www.dfat.gov.au 
• Untapped: www.untapped-group.com