CFAs: Growing and Professionalising the Cyber Security Industry Program (Australia)

In response to industry calls for greater clarity around how cyber security qualifications and skills map to industry requirements, this grant program will provide funding to design, promote and pilot a professionalisation scheme for Australia’s cyber security workforce.

The scheme will provide employers and businesses with assurance that the cyber security professionals they hire have the necessary skills and training. It will support applicants to enter and progress within the sector through horizontal and vertical avenues.

The scheme will engage with existing skills frameworks and professional accreditation streams to maximise interoperability with industry and across jurisdictions. It will foster growth of the domestic cyber workforce and remove barriers to entry for job seekers, existing professionals, and minority groups. A consultative, industry-led approach will inform design.

Objectives

• The objectives of the grant program are to:
  • establish a pilot industry-led cyber security professionalisation scheme
  • provide clear career, skills and education pathways for cyber security professionals, and quality assurance for employers about professional qualifications and cyber security experience of job seekers
  • reduce barriers to entry into the cyber industry
  • attract and retain diverse talent, and foster inclusive
  • enhance domestic cyber capabilities through professionalising the cyber security workforce
  • increase industry and business confidence in Australia’s cyber security workforce.

Funding Information

• The Australian Government has announced a total of $1.9 million over 2 years for the program.
• The maximum grant amount is $1.9 million.
• The grant amount will be 100% per cent of eligible expenditure.
• Project period: You must complete your project by March 2027.

Eligible Expenditure

• You can use this grant funding for:
  • labour expenditure
  • labour on-costs and administrative overhead (up to 30% of labour costs)
  • project management activities
  • contract expenditure (cost of any agreed project activities that you contract others to do)
  • travel (up to 5% of eligible expenditure)
  • purchase of computers, ICT software and hardware directly related to the project, including software licencing and subscription fees
  • staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
  • promotional activities to support the rollout of the scheme
  • establishment costs including legal fees and registration fees
  • the cost of an independent audit of project expenditure up to a maximum of 1% of total eligible project expenditure.

Expected Outcomes

• The intended outcomes of the program are:
  • a pilot Cyber Security Professionalisation Scheme and standards developed in collaboration with industry
  • a pilot Cyber Security Professionalisation Scheme that provides clear career skills and education pathways for workers in, and those seeking to enter, the cyber security workforce
  • guidance for employers and employees regarding skills expectations for accredited professionals
  • an evaluation of the pilot scheme
  • a plan to scale the scheme after the pilot that includes:
    • a strategy to increase industry uptake and participation in the scheme
    • an independent funding mechanism to sustain the program following the pilot, that doesn’t introduce further barriers to entry into the cyber industry.

Eligible Projects

• Your project must:
  • be located in Australia
  • develop and deliver a pilot cyber security professionalisation scheme
  • develop career, skills and education pathways for cyber security professionals
  • establish and involve an industry led co-design team/mechanism, or involve an existing consortium of leading cyber industry representatives
  • research comparable schemes internationally and in comparable industries
  • conduct, monitor and evaluate the pilot scheme
  • provide a strategy for how the scheme will be expanded nationally and become self-sustaining at the conclusion of the government funding period.
  • Your grant activities must also incorporate existing skills and experience from across the cyber workforce, including technical, non-technical and transferable skills that will foster growth and innovation of the industry.
  • You must also consider how the scheme could align with:
    • international best practice skills frameworks
    • existing professional accreditation schemes
    • the Australian Universities Accord Final Report.

Eligibility Criteria

• You can apply if you:
  • have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • are registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  • are located in Australia
  • have an account with an Australian financial institution
  • are an entity, incorporated in Australia
• Joint applications are acceptable, provided you have a lead organisation who is the main driver of the project and is eligible to apply.

Ineligibility Criteria

• You can’t apply if you:
  • an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s list of Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
  • an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
  • an individual
  • partnership
  • unincorporated association
  • trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
  • a Commonwealth, state, territory or local government body (including government business enterprises)
  • a non-corporate Commonwealth entity.

For more information, visit Australian Government.