An ACT-led initiative is set to develop a new national skills standard to help boost the workforce in "one of the most rapidly expanding" sectors key to Australia's future economic growth.
Canberra Cyber Hub, the ACT Government and Digital Skills Organisation on Monday launched a 12-month pilot program that will trial the development of a new cybersecurity skills standard to help identify the gaps and grow a pool of diverse cyber professionals quickly.
As part of the program, the local sector is encouraged to take part in designing the standard by participating in a survey and upcoming workshops.
The hub's chairman Dr Michael Frater said they were asking Canberra cyber companies "to engage in this process and identify not only the skills needed now, but the skills needed for life-long learning and further skills development throughout a career to ensure relevancy is maintained in this ever-changing industry".
Independent and not-for-profit cybersecurity organisation AustCyber said that while the availability of courses and training had significantly grown in the three years to 2020, the "pipeline needs to continue to expand to meet the sector's - and the economy's - growth needs".
"The workforce is estimated to increase to 33,500 by 2024, with around 7000 workers requiring training over the next four years," it said.
The organisation's CEO Michelle Price said the sector was "one of the most rapidly expanding" worldwide, with global spending on products and services increasing by 30 per cent from 2017 to 2020.
Ms Price said in 2020, Australians spent about $5.6b on domestic and international products, a figure that is expected to increase to $7.6b by 2024.
"While the pandemic is having an economic impact on Australia's cybersecurity providers, it has accelerated digitisation trends and driven unprecedented domestic demand," Ms Price said.
NSW-based Digital Skills Organisation's CEO Patrick Kidd said working with employers to help define a standard to describe the skills needed for an entry level professional in cybersecurity was a "significant change that simplifies the skilling system".
"This is a great opportunity to co-design cyber skills training with employers while opening up more accessible and diverse pathways in this profession," Mr Kidd said.
"The consistent application of an employers' standard will provide clear guidance to training providers on priorities and is something which learners can be assessed against.
"This will give confidence to employers about the people they employ."
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said a new national skills standard would inform the future development of the territory's cybersecurity workforce, support jobs growth and signal its leadership in the sector.
- More information about participating in developing the standard can be found at Canberra Cyber Hub.
