ASD names new chiefs for ACSC, signals operations

High-ranking crisis management and incident response public servant Abigail Bradshaw has been named the new head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Australian Signals Directorate director-general Rachel Noble announced the appointment late on Friday afternoon, six weeks after the national cyber spy agency went looking for a replacement.

She replaces Noble, who left the ACSC this month to replace Mike Burgess as ASD’s director-general. Burgess has become Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's director-general.

Bradshaw has spent the last several years at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, most recently as the National Bushfire Recovery Agency’s strategy and governance deputy coordinator.

She also spent several years as PM&C’s national security first assistant secretary and in senior roles at the Department of Home Affairs, including as a maritime border command deputy commander.

Noble said Bradshaw’s “deep experience in crisis management and incident response” from her time at PM&C and Home Affairs made her a perfect fit for the role.

“Cyber threats in Australia continue to increase in sophistication,” Noble said.

“Ms Bradshaw has the proven experience to continue the ACSC’s commitment to ensuring Australia is the safest place to connect online.”

Bradshaw said she “delighted to be returning to the Defence portfolio, bringing my crisis management experience, and domestic and international connections to this exciting role in ASD”.

“I look forward to working closely again with colleagues inside and outside the portfolio, and with the talented team in ACSC to acquit our important cyber mission,” she said.

Noble also used the announcement to name Linda Geddes as ACSC’s new deputy director-general signals intelligence and network operations

Geddes, who will take up the role on March 16, comes to the agency from Home Affairs, where she has spent the last year-and-a-half as the Commonwealth counter-terrorism coordinator.

She has also held other senior roles at Home Affairs, including deputy secretary for policy, as well as PM&C, ASD and the Office of National Assessments.

“Ms Geddes will be a tremendous asset to ASD as she brings to this role her deep counter-terrorism and national security experience, including through her current role as the Commonwealth’s Counter-Terrorism Coordinator,” Noble said.

Geddes said she was “very excited to be returning to ASD” and was “look[ing] forward to renewing old relationships and making new ones”.