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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-27 Daily Xml
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Cybersecurity

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business. How is the state government supporting local small businesses to improve their cyber safety?

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:32): Thank you to the member for Waite for her question and for her support of local businesses in her area. It's a good question for today because it is World Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, which is a really great opportunity for us all to be thanking our small and family businesses for their contribution to our economy and to our local community. This year's UN theme is Small Business Matters, and indeed it does. I encourage all members to support and promote their local businesses in their electorates, particularly today.

We know that cyber attacks are on the rise. Beyond the high profile cases that we have obviously heard of in the media, we have some new data out from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that shows that 22 per cent of businesses across the country had experienced a cyber attack in the 2021-22 financial year. That compared with only 8 per cent in the 2019-20 year, so that is a substantial increase and I suspect the 2022-23 figures are going to be another increase on that.

Last week, I represented South Australia at the Data and Digital Ministers Meeting, where we were told that the federal Albanese government has appointed Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie as Australia's first Cyber Security Coordinator. He is going to be supported at the federal level by a National Office for Cyber Security within the Department of Home Affairs.

We know, as South Australia prepares to play a key role in the AUKUS security partnership, including manufacturing nuclear subs here in South Australia, it is more important than ever that supply chain businesses are equipped to mitigate their cybersecurity risk. Digital and cybersecurity knowledge were consistently raised as areas of concern during our statewide engagement that we undertook with small business owners after we set up the Office for Small and Family Business last year.

Many small business owners said that implementing a cybersecurity plan was, to them, overwhelming. They didn't view themselves as valuable targets for cyber attacks, even though a majority (62 per cent) said they were storing their financial information digitally. Alarmingly, 68 per cent of respondents said they wouldn't know what to do if their business was subject to a cyber attack. That's something we urgently need to deal with as a state and as a country. It is something I advocated for commonwealth support for at the Data and Digital Ministers Meeting, but we are doing something here at home as well.

To counter this trend, the Malinauskas government has provided a $500,000 grant to the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre, through the Office for Small and Family Business, to deliver the small business cyber uplift program. We want to make sure that cyber resilience is accessible, attainable and affordable. We really want to make it as easy as possible for small businesses to engage on this really important issue. Over 12 months, this program is going to equip small businesses with the skills and knowledge required to implement cybersecurity measures as part of their business operations.

The program will include one-on-one consultations, workshops, self-paced online learning modules and networking events. The program is designed to remove the uncertainty and burden for small business owners, coaching participants through the critical steps to implement cyber safe systems and processes. The Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre's ecosystem of industry specialists is uniquely positioned to provide up-to-date, essential cybersecurity education, and I want to thank Matthew Salier and his team for partnering with us on this important initiative.

South Australian businesses of all sizes are susceptible to cyber attack, and this proactive measure will ensure small business owners are able to protect their operations, their reputation and their customer information. The program will provide practical steps to secure our organisations in the digital world. I am pleased to announce that registrations will be available from tomorrow through the business.sa.gov.au website.

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