Dept of Health and Aged Care is under new cyber leadership

The Department of Health and Aged Care has appointed Services Australia’s David Lang as its new cyber security leader.

Lang will now take on the title of assistant secretary, cyber security branch and CISO, under the leadership of chief digital and information officer Fay Flevaras.

He replaces Monique Morgan, who has been promoted to assistant secretary and corporate systems branch lead.

In a statement to iTnews, the department said Lang will continue rolling out an ongoing cyber security uplift program.

“The department has a focus on implementing best practice cyber security practices and has an in-flight cyber security uplift program,” a spokesperson said.

“The CISO role supports this continued uplift.”

Lang previously worked as Services Australia’s national manager for cyber security.

He also spent 10 years at the Australian Electoral Commission, acting as assistant commissioner and CIO among his roles there.

The Department of Health and Aged Care has been a key recipient of federal budget funds for “ICT infrastructure” in consecutive years, with a $312 million allocation in Budget 2022, followed by $214.5 million in Budget 2023 and $174.5 million in Budget 2024, following a royal commission into the sector.

Last month, it was revealed that Accenture would be deploying contractors into a large-scale digital transformation program underway in aged care.

The department has handed $289 million to Accenture for a "workforce uplift supporting the temporary demands of reform initiatives while ensuring the ongoing capability and capacity to maintain the future aged care digital ecosystem".