Alistair MacGibbon, Cyber Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Australia speaks with Executive Editor Chris Cubbage at the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference 2016, Sydney.
EDITOR (E) Are you getting good engagement with Prime Minister Turnbull and his office?
Alistair MacGibbon (AM) Yes it’s great. The level of political interest in cyber security in my experience and I’ve been in this game since the 2000s, has significant up-tick. So I have regular involvement with senior politicians and senior bureaucrats and the level of interest is fantastic.
E: Do you find the role frustrating at all, are they taking cyber security as seriously as they should?
Yes, the launch of the Cyber Security Strategy in its own right by the Prime Minister and bringing the strategy into the Prime Minister’s own department are signs of how important it is being taken in Canberra.
E: You’ve been in your role for only four months, what have been some of the key challenges for you?
AM: Well I prefer to see it as what key opportunities there have been. I think what happened to the Census was actually an opportunity for the Government. It was a disappointment and frustration absolutely but also an opportunity to take something that was clearly very frustrating but not catastrophic in terms of what actually happened and parlay that into the thinking of government in the delivery of other government digital service delivery. So I look for opportunities out of what are otherwise unpleasant circumstances, and the Census was one of those unpleasant circumstances. So the opportunity is for a better dialogue around better digital service delivery from a Government perspective and indeed to engage the public as to what their expectations are of Government…Click HERE to read full Q&A.
