The Victorian Government has launched Victoria’s cyber security strategy with the vision of ensuring “secure and resilient Government information, services and infrastructure”.

The strategy has a clear focus on building cyber resilience at the Victorian State Government level, describing cyber resilience as “a focus on detection, mitigation of vulnerabilities, and swift recovery.”

To achieve the Victorian Government’s vision, the strategy lists 23 actions. Key actions include:

• the appointment of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) within the Department of Premier and Cabinet
• the establishment of a three year cyber security planning cycle for State Government agencies that references the US National Institute for Science and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework
• partnering across government and the private sector to drive capacity building
• procuring certain cyber security services at a whole of government level
• the creation of a cyber security specialist workforce plan to enhance Victorian Government cyber security capabilities.

The Victorian Government’s release of this strategy demonstrates an important and clear commitment at the State Government level to cyber security and cyber resilience. While the strategy is not specifically focused on cyber security at the local government level, there should be an opportunity for Victorian councils to benefit from the strategy, including through partnering with the State and benefiting from the broader enhancement of Victorian cyber security capabilities.

Given the whole of government theme of the strategy, could your council benefit from partnering with the State or other councils to tackle cyber risk?