Students – jumpstart your cyber security career in 2022!

It’s our first episode of OzCyber Unlocked for 2022! This month, AustCyber's CEO Michelle Price speaks to two passionate advocates for building Australia’s next generation of cyber employees - Evan Williams, the Australian Director at Microsoft 365 Business Group and Dr Bobby Cerini, Questacon’s General Manager of Science and Learning & Deputy Director.

Dr Cerini runs us through Questacon’s new Australian Cyber Ready Program, which was launched during Australian Cyber Week. Designed for students aged 8-13 and their teachers, the program aims to improve cyber security skills, awareness and job readiness through a series of interactive and creative challenges. 

AustCyber has also partnered with Microsoft to deliver a new Cyber Security Traineeship Program. Mr Williams discusses why this program is important for participants, industry and our economy, and explains how cyber ‘boot camps’ will encourage anyone from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines to get involved in the sector with a focus on diversifying the talent pool.

We also discuss how we can continue to build, inspire and ensure programs such as these continue well into the future. 

This month, our spotlight features Dr James Curran from Grok Academy. A not-for-profit organisation, Grok Academy is the amalgamation of the Australian Computing Academy (ACA) and Grok Learning. Their focus is to educate, empower and inform through learning platforms, curriculum, professional development, and teaching resources. 

Useful links: 

• Questacon’s Cyber Ready Program – https://www.questacon.edu.au/cyber-ready-program
• Questions –  cyberready@questacon.edu.au
• Cyber Security Traineeship Program (site to be relaunched soon) –  https://www.megt.com.au/news/2019/12/cyber-security-traineeship-program 
• Volunteer at Grok Academy – grokacademy.org or support@groklearning.com