Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Systems of National Significance

The Australian Government is committed to protecting the essential services all Australians rely on by uplifting the security and resilience of critical infrastructure.

Critical infrastructure is increasingly interconnected and interdependent, delivering efficiencies and economic benefits to operations. However, connectivity without proper safeguards creates vulnerabilities that can deliberately or inadvertently cause disruption that could result in cascading consequences across our economy, security and sovereignty.

A range of hazards have the potential to significantly compromise the supply of essential services across Australia; physical, personnel and cyber security are all increasingly interrelated. Recent incidents such as compromises of the Australian parliamentary network, university networks and key corporate entities, natural disasters and the impacts of COVID-19 illustrate that threats to the operation of Australia’s critical infrastructure entities continue to be significant.

We must work together now to ensure Australia’s security practices, policies and laws bolster the security and resilience of our critical infrastructure and position us to act in any future emergency. We need a better shared understanding of the threats we face and how we can combat them. Together, owners and operators of critical infrastructure, academia and all levels of government must collectively take steps to protect Australians from an attack and other disruptions.

Accordingly, Government will introduce an enhanced regulatory framework, building on existing requirements under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (the Act). This will include:

These changes will be underpinned by enhancements to Government’s existing education, communication and engagement activities, under a refreshed Critical Infrastructure Resilience Strategy. This will include a range of activities that will improve our collective understanding of risk within and across sectors.

The Government’s commitment to the continued prosperity of our economy and businesses is unwavering. The impacts of recent events only reinforce the need for collaboration between and across critical infrastructure sectors and Government to protect our economy, security and sovereignty.

At the same time, Government recognises the additional economic challenges facing many sectors and entities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcome we seek is clear – we want to work in partnership to develop proportionate requirements that strike a balance between uplifting security, and ensuring businesses remain viable and services remain sustainable, accessible and affordable. An uplift in security and resilience across critical infrastructure sectors will mean that all businesses will benefit from strengthened protections to the networks, systems and services we all depend on.

We want to hear from you – owners and operators of critical infrastructure, state and territory governments, academia and the Australian public – to contribute to the design of this framework to deliver a real and meaningful uplift to critical infrastructure security and resilience, while minimising economic impact.