Our Strategy calls for a new era of collaboration on cyber in Australia. We’re leading by example, producing a strategy that defines a clear vision for both domestic and international cyber security for the first time. We want to remain the security partner of choice for nations in the Pacific family. We’ve consulted closely with our regional partners to understand their unique cyber challenges. We’ve heard from Pacific Islands that digitisation and connectivity are key parts of their economic development strategies, but also increase the cyber risks they face as nations. Consultation is at the heart of this Strategy. Input from thousands of experts, businesses and citizens across nearly every sector of the economy have contributed to this plan. In December 2022, I appointed an Expert Advisory Board to guide the development of the Strategy – chaired by Andrew Penn AO, former CEO of Telstra, with Rachael Falk, CEO of the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, and Mel Hupfeld AO DSC. The Board authored a Discussion Paper which received over 330 written responses. I am deeply grateful for the stewardship of the Board, and for their immense contribution to the Strategy. Cyber security requires government and big business to lead. From today, we are shifting more of the cyber risk to those who are most capable. We are holding industry to higher standards to protect our devices, our data, and our critical infrastructure. For the first time, Government will hold itself to the same standard it expects of industry. The strategy is bold and ambitious – and it has to be. Because one thing is abundantly clear from what’s happened to our cyber environment in the last five years: we simply can’t continue as we are. We need to push harder, we need to get in front of this problem, and for the first time, Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy will help our country do just that. The Hon Clare O’Neil MP Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security 2023–2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy 5