CySEA Summary: A Strong Start to the Year
A Strong Start to the Year
Over the past quarter, we’ve continued to strengthen connections across Australia - bringing together students, educators, universities, and industry through collaboration, practical experiences, and a shared purpose.
This edition highlights several exciting milestones and initiatives, including CySEA’s charitable status, educator engagement at ACSW, and immersive industry experiences that are helping students build capability, confidence, and connections within the cyber sector.
As always, thank you to our partners, members, and supporters for your continued commitment.
ACUCyS - Jingle Shells
A special congratulations to ACUCyS on delivering a highly successful Capture the Flag (CTF) over the Christmas break. It was an impressive display of skill, collaboration, and determination from students across the country, and a strong indicator of the talent emerging in Australia’s cyber pipeline.
New Members
We are thrilled to announce CySEA’s new university members. We now welcome the University of Adelaide, Australian National University (ANU) & University of Queensland (UQ).
Their commitment to advancing cyber security education will help CySEA strengthen collaboration and innovation across the field.
CySEA Granted Charitable Status
We’re pleased to share that Cyber Security Education Australia (CySEA) has officially been granted charitable status.
This important milestone reflects our core purpose: advancing cyber security education and supporting students, educators, and institutions to strengthen Australia’s cyber capability.
Charitable status enables us to reinvest directly into:
Education initiatives
National collaboration
Student and educator impact
We thank our community for your continued support in helping us grow and extend our impact.
CySEA Educators Workshop at ACSW
CySEA was delighted to host an Educators Workshop as part of ACSW, bringing together educators from across the country committed to strengthening cyber security education.
The session provided a valuable forum to:
Exchange ideas and share best practice
Discuss emerging challenges in cyber education
Explore ways to better prepare students for the workforce
These conversations are essential to ensuring our education ecosystem remains relevant, connected, and forward-looking.
Student Career Day: REST Super
Students from UNSW, Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, and UTS recently took part in an immersive Cyber Career Day hosted by REST Super.
Throughout the day, students gained insight into the breadth of roles within cyber security, the challenges of protecting critical systems, and the importance of collaboration across teams.
A highlight was the hands-on incident response simulation, where students worked through a realistic cyber scenario—experiencing firsthand the pace, pressure, and decision-making required to respond to an attack.
Equally valuable were the conversations with the REST team, who generously shared their career journeys, experiences, and practical advice.
Real-World Cyber in Action: Commonwealth Bank
Students also had the opportunity to experience cyber security in action at Commonwealth Bank through a full-day immersive program.
The day commenced with a crisis management and protective security simulation, where students worked in teams to make rapid decisions based on incomplete information and present their responses.
Students then toured CommBank’s Security Operations Centre (SOC), gaining insight into how threats are monitored and managed at scale, followed by the opportunity to connect with cyberprofessionals.
In the afternoon, students participated in an incident response tabletop exercise, focusing on stakeholder communication and decision-making under pressure.
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.
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