A consortium of Australian technology industry bodies will co-design and pilot a cybersecurity professionalisation scheme dubbed CyberPath to help define skills and pathways for the sector, the federal government announced on Thursday.
The Department of Home Affairs confirmed the consortium would be led by the Australian Computer Society (ACS), the publisher of Information Age, after the society won a $1.9 million federal grant.
ACS said it would also contribute “up to $1.9 million and significant in-kind resourcing and support” to the pilot program, which is funded through 2028.
Home Affairs's head of national security, Hamish Hansford, said, “With cyberattacks on the rise, staying ahead of malicious actors is critical.
“Australia needs a strong pipeline of cyber professionals to safeguard resilience and outpace evolving threats.”
The CyberPath pilot will be co-run by consortium members the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (Aus3C), and Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN).
The consortium said it would recommend standards “to help provide clear career, skills and education pathways for workers in, and those seeking to enter, the cybersecurity workforce”.
ACS CEO Josh Griggs said Australia needed to “clearly define roles, skills, and career pathways for the cyber workforce” given cybersecurity’s ever-evolving threat landscape.
“This consortium is working closely with industry and the entire ecosystem to build a rigorous framework and a pilot model that will help close the gap in cyber capability, recognition, and professionalisation to keep Australia safe,” he said.
The consortium’s pilot is expected to inform industry on skills expectations for accredited cybersecurity professionals and to develop a strategy for scaling up the voluntary scheme after it concludes.
That strategy would include plans to increase uptake of the CyberPath scheme, as well as to find an independent funding mechanism, the consortium said.
ACS President Helen McHugh said the scheme would help employers by creating “a consistent and transparent way to understand how qualified a cyber professional is, which is critical when the threats and skills required are evolving so quickly”.
“This will develop a highly qualified cyber workforce, supporting Australia’s long-term digital economy,” she said.
Helping cybersecurity 'professionalise … and grow’
The announcement of CyberPath comes after ACS was awarded a grant under the federal government’s ‘Growing and Professionalising the Cyber Security Industry Program’, which is part of its broader 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.
The grant program was launched “in response to industry calls for greater clarity around how cybersecurity qualifications and skills map to industry requirements”, the government previously stated.
Chair of the program’s steering committee, former ACS president Ian Oppermann, said the ACS-led consortium’s work would help "professionalise Australia’s cybersecurity workforce and grow the next generation of cybersecurity leaders”.
Australia’s cybersecurity sector has continued to voice concerns about skills shortages in recent years, while Australians have experienced major data breaches involving the likes of Qantas, Optus, and Medibank.
The domestic cybersecurity industry has also reported workers face increasing stress and burnout, and the federal government is facing a "digital talent shortfall" of its own.
AISA chair Michael Burchell said the association was “proud to represent the voice of our members, and all cyber practitioners” in the new CyberPath pilot scheme, at a time when Australia placed “immense trust” in the nation’s cybersecurity community to protect digital systems.
Jacqui Loustau, founder and CEO of fellow consortium member AWSN, said groups underrepresented in cybersecurity needed to be “heard and considered in shaping the future of the industry”.
ACS already carries out skills assessments on behalf of the federal government for IT, data science, and cybersecurity workers migrating to Australia, and provides certifications for cybersecurity professionals and technologists.
From the Australian Computer Society news article, published 24 November 2025, accessed 8 December 2025.
