The inaugural 2020 CAUDIT Cybersecurity Benchmarking survey was completed by 34 of 39 Australian Institutions, all eight New Zealand Institutions and two affiliate member institutions. The support of participating institutions is appreciated in the first CAUDIT Cybersecurity Benchmarking survey.

We understand the start of the year is a busy time with many planning workloads and determining priorities for the year ahead. We also acknowledge that people will be taking time off during the Easter Break. With this in mind, we have extended the close date for the 2021 CAUDIT Awards nominations to 9am AEST, Monday 19 April. We hope this will give you more than enough time to complete your entry to a high standard.

Following the success of the inaugural AHECS Cybersecurity Summit, the Summit will return in 2021, remaining as an online event. The AHECS Cybersecurity Summit will run over two days, Tuesday 09 November 2021 and Wednesday 10 November 2021.

In late 2020, the CAUDIT Executive approved additional staffing for the Strategic Procurement Service, with a Procurement Officer (1.0), and an Admin Officer, Procurement (0.5) to be appointed.  These positions have been posted to the CAUDIT website.  If you are interested in the positions, or would like more information, please reach out to the Director, Strategic Procurement, 

Motivated by staff movement over the previous 12 months, CAUDIT is developing a ‘Talent Pool’ which will serve as a mechanism for CAUDIT Member organisations to target job seekers who have experience within the higher education sector. There is substantial value in securing staff who possess sector knowledge, especially when filling temporary or short-term contract roles.

The Four-Nation Cyber Security virtual study tour, in collaboration with our colleagues in the United Kingdom and South Africa, has showcased the best practices of six host universities from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The virtual study tour facilitated networking with peers from across the northern and southern hemisphere as delegates came together to consider the security challenges currently facing institutions everywhere. 

We have almost reached the end of what must be our toughest year yet in Higher Education. I’m sure all of the community has been tested in ways you never imagined this year, whether it be dealing with technology change at an unprecedented speed, navigating significant changes to our roles and teams, or just battling to stay sane in a locked-down world. I would like to think that everyone’s connection in this community has been some help in some way to deal with one or more of these challenges, I know it has been for me.

Participating in their final group session covering future goal setting, running successful meetings and the ever-important presentations back to the group, the 13 participants of the CAUDIT Managers Program have now completed the 2020 program.

The participants from the 2020 program have been committed to the revised online structure throughout the program despite the challenges that this style can entail. The program has been instrumental in supporting them as they navigated a busy, tumultuous, trying and yet inspiring year.

In collaboration with PaceLearning, CAUDIT will facilitate a free, two-hour ‘Powering Up’ session for the alumni of the CAUDIT Managers Program.