CySEA Summary. Final Newsletter for 2025
A Year of Progress
As 2025 draws to a close, we want to thank everyone who has contributed to another remarkable year of collaboration, learning and innovation in cyber security education. We’re gaining momentum, and this reflects the passion and generosity of our growing community of educators, industry partners, students, and supporters across Australia.
Here’s a look back at some recent highlights and a sneak peek into what’s ahead in 2026.
Please visit our website Cyber Security Education Australia and follow us on LinkedIn.
Commonwealth Bank Guest Lectures
We were thrilled to welcome industry experts from the Commonwealth Bank to some on-campus lectures earlier this semester. Their insights into real-world cyber operations, defence strategies, and incident response gave students an invaluable look into the fast-paced world of frontline digital defence and help to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Students gain direct exposure to the challenges and decision-making processes that define modern cyber security.
We’re also working with CySEA member universities and their local CommBank experts to pair experts with courses for potential future in-class interactions.
Cyber Lab Workshops
Our inter-university cyber lab workshops earlier this year were a highlight! We brought together cyber security educators and systems officers from several Australian universities to share their successes (and pain points) around running student labs for cyber security teaching.
Participants were invited to:
· exchange ideas and experiences,
· give a brief “show and tell” of a successful cyber security teaching environment that others might adopt, and
· discuss challenges they had encountered, while hearing how others had overcome similar issues.
These sessions sparked valuable exchanges about how best to support genuine hands-on security teaching. It’s always tricky finding ways to do practical activities that explore genuine security issues without breaching the universal security constraints of large organisations, and the workshops offered a collaborative space to compare approaches.
Thank you to Damian Jurd - Macquarie, Hammond Pearce - UNSW, Jin Hong - UWA and Mohammed Goudarzi - Monash, for presenting.
We hope these meetings will seed an ongoing community of practice dedicated to managing cyber security labs, that continues to meet and share insights.
Educators on the Frontline – Conference Presentations
This year saw our educators speaking at conferences across Australia and internationally. Their research and experience continue to shape the future of cybersecurity education and contribute to shaping best practice globally.
For the first time, CySEA hosted a special session where innovative educators from around Australia gathered to present some of their latest novel techniques, seeding discussions among academics to improve student engagement and genuine learning.
Thank you to Our Community
To all our members, collaborators, speakers, students, and supporters! Your passion, generosity and commitment are shaping and advancing the future of cyber security education in Australia. Whether you shared your expertise, contributed to research, taught the next generation, or simply engaged with our community, you’ve helped strengthen the foundations of a safer digital future.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we head into the new year, CySEA continues to build momentum. In 2026 we look forward to:
· Expanding our education-industry partnerships, collaborating in new ways and creating meaningful opportunities for students and educators alike.
· Furthering our research into graduate employability, ensuring our programs remain aligned with the evolving needs of the workforce.
. Bringing you SECeduCon6 – bigger, broader, and even more impactful
CySEA Summary. Welcome to the First Edition.
We’re pleased to launch the inaugural edition of CySEA Summary, Cyber Security Education Australia’s periodic newsletter.
This publication celebrates student achievements, shares insights from industry collaborations, and highlights the latest developments in cyber security education across Australia.
Whether you're a student, educator, or industry partner, we hope this newsletter keeps you informed, inspired, and connected to the growing community of future cyber defenders.
Please visit our website Cyber Security Education Australia and follow us on LinkedIn.
SECeduCon5
Australia's only education focused cyber security conference, SECeduCon, held at Scientia on Thursday the 26th of June 2025. Co-hosted by Cyber Security Education Australia (CySEA) and SECedu, was a resounding success - bringing together students, academics, and industry leaders from across Australia to explore critical themes in cyber security education and foster the profession.
Highlights included:
· a diverse and high-quality range of academic contributions
· a well-subscribed poster competition with over 50 impressive entries
· a dynamic program of presentations featuring senior industry leaders, government representatives, early-career professionals, and students
Now in our fifth year, SECeduCon engagement remains high. This year saw a notable increase in participation at the networking event, reflecting growing community interest. We were especially proud to see significant progress in gender representation, with women comprising 50% of speakers and 34% of attendees.
The interactive format and education focus sets SECeduCon apart. We remain committed to fostering collaboration and innovation and look forward to building on this momentum in future events.
Australian Cyber Security Games
The Australian Cyber Security Games, a national Capture the Flag (CTF) competition for University and TAFE students is in its second year. The five-week competition held entirely online, offers students a flexible opportunity to develop and showcase their cyber security skills. Teams of up to four current students have tackled weekly challenges built around an overarching theme, with each challenge developed in collaboration with generous industry partners who have contributed their time and expertise.
We have seen strong growth, with 54 teams participating (up from 46 in 2024) and representation expanding from 14 to 22 institutions nationwide.
Following the 2024 event, 25 teams were invited to “Lunch with a CISO,” an initiative supported by 22 companies including KPMG, JB Hi-Fi, Domino’s, Ausgrid, and REST - offering students valuable insights and networking opportunities with senior cyber security leaders.
These exercises continue to highlight the depth of emerging cyber security talent in Australia and the value of collaboration with industry.
ACUCyS - The Australian Council of University Cyber Societies
Established in October 2024, ACUCyS aims to unify and represent the interests of cyber security students and related student societies across Australia, facilitating collaboration, professional development, and advocacy in the field of cyber security and related disciplines.
Membership currently comprises 16 universities from around Australia. A recent in-person meeting was held in Sydney (to coincide with our conference), and 13 universities were represented.
Stay Connected
We’re proud to share the energy and talent driving excellence in cyber security education in Australia. If you’d like to contribute to future editions, share your success stories, or suggest topics you'd love to see covered, we’d love to hear from you.
Be sure to follow us on social media for updates, events, and more opportunities to get involved.