Key outcomes
Delivery of a digital platform which makes detailed data and insights on Australia’s cyber security workforce widely available for use by cyber security workers and job seekers, employers, government stakeholders and educators.
Economic impact
-
Improved industry awareness on workforce trends and challenges
-
Enabled individual cyber security workers and job seekers to make informed career pathway decisions
Government funding
$610,430
Industry funding
$610,430
The AustCyber Projects Fund is a $15 million, three-year initiative designed to help the Australian cyber security industry grows and takes ideas globally. Since launching in 2018, AustCyber has provided this funding to projects that are making a real contribution to growing Australia’s cyber security ecosystem, guided by the Sector Competitiveness Plan.
One of the participants in AustCyber’s Projects Fund was Alpha Beta College, who used their involvement in the Projects Fund Program to deliver a digital platform that makes detailed data and insights on Australia’s cyber security workforce widely available for use by cyber security workers and job seekers, employers, government stakeholders and educators.
Lightcast (formerly Burning Glass Technologies), Accenture (formerly Alphabeta), CompTIA and CyberCX formed a consortium to deliver Australia’s first interactive digital platform providing data on the local cyber security workforce.
The project aimed to make available detailed data and insights on Australia’s cyber security workforce by expanding CyberSeek.org – the leading authority on the cyber security workforce in the United States – to the Australian market.
About AUCyberExplorer
AUCyberExplorer is an interactive tool that tracks the state of the Australian cyber security job market by providing detailed, actionable data about cyber security job supply and demand and career pathways.
Australia continues to face a growing cyber security skills shortage (as highlighted in AustCyber’s flagship publication the Sector Competitiveness Plan), and the information provided by AUCyberExplorer is designed to address this shortage.
It highlights current market trends that can be used by the government, researchers, employers, employees and education providers to make strategic evidence‐based decisions that support the growth of cyber security employment and education in Australia.
AUCyberExplorer provides an interactive heat map of worker supply and job demand for cyber security jobs in states and territories across Australia, which will enable local job seekers, employers, policymakers, and educators to understand the cyber security job market within their region. The portal also includes an interactive career pathway that enumerates the key jobs across the cyber security ecosystem and maps transition opportunities between them, along with the key skills, certifications, salaries, and education requirements associated with each job. This data enables users to make better-informed decisions about building the next generation of cyber security workers at a local level and arm them with detailed insights for closing the cyber security talent gap across Australia.
This project aimed to address the lack of information available on the Australian cybersecurity workforce. In the United States, CyberSeek US data has shown that the existing cyber security workforce needed to double in size to align with normal market supply across other industries, and the same challenges exist in Australia. Most traditional labour market statistics are too broad to provide insight into the key jobs and skills within the cyber security workforce and come with data delay of a year or more, hampering efforts to prepare workers for a rapidly evolving field. Therefore, the first step in closing the cyber security workforce gap is closing the cyber security workforce information gap.
Post-completion of the original project, AUCyberExplorer was handed over to AustCyber for ongoing management and development.
During 2022, the platform was expanded to include new features and data points beyond the scope of the US model. These new enhancements include data on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Occupation codes, regional & urban areas, gender, a forecasting model and data showing international comparisons and historical trends on workforce supply and demand. These new features and data points arm the industry with real trends which inform how the cyber security workforce is growing and evolving.
Learn more about Alpha Beta College at their website.
Stay up to date with news and opportunities from AustCyber by signing up to the newsletter.
Find out more about the other projects involved with the AustCyber Projects Fund.
