John Cobb (Calare, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister representing the Minister for Defence. Will the minister advise the House on what the government is doing to strengthen Australia's cybersecurity capabilities?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Calare for his question and acknowledge his role as chair of the government policy committee on foreign affairs. As he well knows, the issue of cybersecurity is one of the major global security challenges of our time. Malevolent online actors include terrorist organisations, transnational criminal networks and governments. Cyberattacks range from hacking to obtain sensitive information and gaining control of computer networks to destructive capabilities that can bring down essential services or, indeed, cripple government operations. This cyberthreat to Australia is unrelenting and continues to grow.

The Australian Signals Directorate detected more than 1,200 cyberattacks against Australian interests in 2015. The targets included Australian government agencies and companies, particularly in defence industries and in energy, banking and finance, communications and transport sectors. To counter this growing cyberthreat, the government is bolstering our national cybersecurity capabilities. Indeed, the 2016 Defence white paper includes a commitment to strengthen our cybersecurity capabilities through an investment of up to $400 million over the next decade. This means stronger protections for government and private sector networks.

The government will also establish a $30 million industry-led Cyber Security Growth Centre that will bring together industry, researchers and governments to develop an overarching cybersecurity plan to coordinate research, development and innovation in this vital area of national security. The Cyber Security Growth Centre will create significant business and employment opportunities for Australia's cybersecurity industries. That means there will be more jobs to protect us as part of this joint effort at improving online security for all Australians. We aim to be a global leader and attract international investment in this area.

Australia is also helping to shape the global response to cybersecurity challenges. We are an active participant in the United Nations processes to develop norms for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. I have represented Australia's interests at various international fora that are looking at this question of cybersecurity and how to prevent cyberattacks. So the government is responding vigorously to the threat of cyberattacks. It is a key part of our efforts to safeguard our national security.