Vic gov to spend $100m on cyber security

The Victorian government will spend $100 million strengthening cyber security across government agencies as one of the topline technology-related measures in the state budget.

About one-third of the funding [pdf] is split over three years “to continue Victoria’s program of cyber security activities to Victorian public sector organisations” under an initiative being called ‘Cyber Safe Victoria 2026+’.

The funding will cover work to “identify threats, protect against attacks, and respond to incidents”, the government said in budget papers. [pdf]

The exact amount of funding is unclear as it is parcelled into a line item that also pays for an open data initiative; total funding per year for the two activities is $12.5 million.

The Department of Health has landed $20.2 million just for 2025-26 for a cyber security uplift.

Called the ‘safer digital healthcare program’, it sees funding allocated “to maintain strong cyber security measures for Victorian public health services and Ambulance Victoria.”

“This includes support for next generation antivirus protections and network infrastructure upgrades needed to support and deliver patient-related services such as pathology, diagnostic imaging, and patient management systems,” the budget papers state.

Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) will receive $17.1 million over three years to bolster its own cyber security protections.

“Funding is provided to strengthen cyber security and better protect Fire Rescue Victoria’s 

information management systems from threats,” the budget papers state.

The agency was hit by a cyber attack in the lead-up to Christmas 2022 that caused a number of IT systems to be shut down, with a long tail of operational challenges.

Some of these challenges continue, with metrics in the 2023-24 performance statement “unavailable” due to the attack.

A portion of a $9.5 million program run over four years for vocational education and training (VET) also includes “cyber security protections” around the sector’s data holdings.

It appears the remainder of the $100 million will come out of a “digital strategy and transformation” allocation to the Department of Government Services. 

One of three “objective indicators” for digital transformation is that “government systems and data are protected from cyber threats.”

On some cyber-related measures executed through digital transformation activity during the past financial year, the government reported strong results.

The number of “government entities reporting cyber maturity” was expected to be 120 in 2024-25, but came in at 225.

“The 2024-25 expected outcome is higher than the 2024-25 target due to the successful introduction of maturity reporting to more government entities,” it said.

The government added that “one-off funding received for cyber security initiatives” in the 2023-24 financial year contributed to about $50 million in additional spending on digital transformation than forecast.

Digital transformation spending will dip slightly over forward years due to a “revision” of timelines associated with broadband and mobile service delivery programs of work.