Current Air Commander to be Australian national cyber coordinator

The Australian Government has appointed current Air Commander Australia Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie AM CSC the inaugural National Cyber Security Coordinator. Appointed only last year to his current post, he will commence his term as the National Cyber Security Coordinator as a full Air Marshal on 3 July 2023. His successor as Air Commander hasn’t been named as yet.

As Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Goldie has been responsible for building capability and resilience in the Royal Australian Air Force. He led the coordination of Defence responses to natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic and has also held key leadership positions, including at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 2020-21, providing strategic foreign policy advice to Government.

“The Coordinator, together with the National Office of Cyber Security within the Department of Home Affairs, will ensure we are well positioned to respond to the opportunities, but also the challenges that are there in this digital age,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the media at Parliament House in Canberra. “In this role, Air Marshal Goldie will support the Minister for Cyber Security to lead the coordination of national cyber security policy, responses to major cyber incidents, work of whole of government cyber incident preparedness efforts and, of course, strengthening Commonwealth cyber security capability.”

“Many of you will know that the Australian Government for the first time has started to engage in significant war gaming exercises, with sectors where cyber incidents are going to pose a national security threat if they occur, and Air Marshal Goldie will take on that responsibility,” said Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Ms Clare O’Neill. “Air Marshal Goldie will also play a really important role in helping us deal with a very significant issue we face, and that is Commonwealth cyber security, a very big problem for our country.”

The Coordinator will lead national cyber security policy, the coordination of responses to major cyber incidents, whole of Government cyber incident preparedness efforts and strengthening of Commonwealth cyber security capability.

“Australia is fortunate enough to have some of the best cyber practitioners in the world, they are well led,” said AM Goldie, adding that he thinks his role will centre on coordination and leadership and the provision of information both to the Australian people and to the Australian Government.

“I think the cyber challenge that Australia faces along with the rest of the world is dire,” he added. “That challenge will continue to increase in its complexity and severity and I think we are all in this together as a nation and it will behove us all to continue to be educated.”

The appointment of Air Marshal Goldie builds on the Australian Government’s commitment to deliver a 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy and follows a Cyber Security Industry Roundtable hosted by the Prime Minister earlier this year.