SA budget sinks $20m into cyber security to protect govt systems

The SA government has set aside more than $20 million in this year’s state budget to help protect its systems from cyber attacks.

Budget documents handed down on Tuesday show an “immediate investment” worth $20.6 million over three years to “enhance [the] cyber security of government systems”.

The funding – which will flow to the Department of Premier and Cabinet – will be used to “improve whole-of-government ICT cyber security systems and processes”.

More than half of the $20.6 million investment will be spent in 2021-22, with just $4.9 million and $4.7 million allocated in 2022-23 and 2023-24 respectively.

The government has also earmarked $4.7 million per year in ongoing funding to “increase the capacity of government agencies to protect ICT systems from the threat of cyber attack”.

It follows a $12 million investment in whole-of-government cyber security in 2020-21, less than $4 million of which was detailed in last year’s budget.

Earlier this month, the state’s audit office found 79 percent of the 292 public-facing environments it assessed had not been pentested in the last three years.

Elsewhere in the budget, SA Police scored $21.3 million to upgrade the linkages between its core information, data and records management system - called Shield - and other justice agencies.

The funding will allow the force to complete stages three and four of the long-running Shied project, which first began in 2013 and is underpinned by Niche RMS.

“Shield stages three and four will deliver a comprehensive integrated system that links directly with other justice sector agencies to improve collaboration and data sharing capabilities,” the budget states.

TAFE SA will receive $12.7 million over two years to “undertake a program of system and process improvements”, which builds on a $12.3 million program aimed at “enhancing its systems”.

“The program will deliver improved technology across regional infrastructure to enable campuses to be contemporary, digitally enabled ‘student learning hubs’,” budget documents state.

“The program will also enable the redesign of more efficient processes across corporate governance and financial management functions.”

The Department of Health and Wellbeing scored $5.5 million over two years for an “electronic aged care enterprise management system across all SA Health run regional aged care facilities”.

Only half of the 48 sites run by SA Health currently use an electronic enterprise management system to maintain resident information and care planning, with the remainder still using pen-and-paper.

“This initiative provides for the rollout of the electronic aged care enterprise management system to the remaining 25 regional sites,” budget documents state.

“The functionality of the system will also be expanded across all sites to include medication management accessed via mobile devices at the bedside, supporting data entry at the point of care.

“This will improve the safety of care to residents and administrative efficiency of the service.”

The government has also set aside $7 million over four years for an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system for the emergency services sector following a trial of the technology.

Other new initiatives funded in the budget include:

• $20.8 million in 2021-22 for the ongoing transformation of Lot Fourteen, which houses the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre and a number of other tech companies.
• $4.3 million for the Department of Premier and Cabinet to enhance the government’s online service portal, SAGOV, which also received $13.4 million in last year’s budget.
• $2.6 million over four years for a small business capability program aimed at improving resilience, including through the development of digital and cyber security capabilities.
• $2.2 million over four years for the Department of Energy and Mining to support the continuation and expansion of the independent landowner information service.
• $1.6 million over four years, including almost $1 million in grants, for companies to foster innovation through matching co-funding for health application pilots.
• $1.5 million over two years to “increase the ability of the Office for Data Analytics to inform policy development”.
• $1.3 million over two years for three IT projects, including a referral management system and outcomes reporting system, to support the Child and Family Support System.
• $1.3 million per year for an agtech adoption program administered by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions.