AustCyber has announced Microsoft will assist to deliver on funding from a Commonwealth government’s Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund (CSSPIF) grant, with a Cyber Security Traineeship Program. The program will support approximately 200 participants into a cyber career from 2021 to 2024. The partnership is intended to increase the pipeline of candidates entering the cyber industry.
AustCyber’s CEO Michelle Price said, “Microsoft and AustCyber are working nationally through Austcyber’s National Network of Nodes with group training providers, industry micro-credential trainers, educational institutions, and large and small cyber security industry stakeholders to develop Australia’s next generation of cyber talent.”
“The program commences with a Cyber Skills Bootcamp, to better enable participants from diverse backgrounds to enter the cyber industry – including women, veterans, First Nations people, neurologically diverse people, displaced workers and other minority groups. The training will be delivered through a selection of training providers to provide flexibility of training locations and establish a baseline level of skills to facilitate entry into the Certificate IV in Cyber Security.
“This vocational qualification will be bolstered with vendor and industry micro-credentials for real world applicable skills. By developing this as a paid traineeship, our cyber trainees will earn whilst they learn, developing vital on-the-job skills in their employment with a cohort of employment partners.”
Trainees will be matched with an employer from a range of AustCyber and Microsoft’s ecosystems of employment collaborators, who range from cyber SMEs to large organisations to gain valuable on-the-job experience and the opportunity to fast-track post-graduation employment with the same employer.
Mark Anderson, Chief Security Officer for Microsoft Australia, said, “It’s vitally important we create career pathways to fast-track people into cyber careers and we know that this Traineeship model is a successful way in doing just that, having supported 250 Australians to enter cloud computing careers since 2020 through a similar program.”
“Microsoft is incredibly focused on increasing the diversity of our technology workforce, and it’s exciting to be able to offer people a bridge into cyber careers through a free Bootcamp Course and this Cyber Traineeship.”
