DAVID LACEY:
Well good morning, everyone. My name is Dave Lacey, and some of you I know, Managing Director of IDCARE, my warm welcome to Minister Collins, Commonwealth Minister for Small Business who’s here to launch something very exciting for us. First, I’d like to acknowledge Country, we’re here on the lands of the Gubbi Gubbi people, and my respects to elders past, present and emerging, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today. And I’ll pass to the Minister for some opening remarks, thank you.
JULIE COLLINS:
Thank you, David. It’s terrific to be here with David Lacey and his team at IDCARE and to have a tour this morning and to talk to people about being ready for the launch of our Small Business Cyber Resilience Service. This is an important service for small businesses. I also want to thank those businesses that came to chat to me today, Chris, Gabrielle, and I’ve forgotten – John, who came to talk to me about their experience in using IDCARE this morning. Essentially what we’re launching today here is a cyber security service for small businesses around the country. So, when small businesses have an issue or a concern, they can pick up the phone or go online and they can get the support that they need to deal with the cyber‑attack or their concerns and actually work their way through it.
This is important for small businesses to build their resilience into the future, but importantly, to help them recover from any attacks. We know that an average attack in Australia at the moment costs a small business around $46,000. We also know that in the last financial year that we have data available ‘22, ‘23, we had 94,000 cyber crimes that were reported from businesses in that financial year. We know that there’s many more and we know that it’s not reported.
What I would say to small businesses around the country is this can happen to anyone. You should not be embarrassed, but you should pick up the phone and you should contact IDCARE on 1800595170 or go to idcare.org/smallbusiness and get the support that you need. This will also help IDCARE and indeed the federal government when it comes to dealing with some of these attacks and some of the incursions and attacks that small businesses have.
We want to make sure that small businesses in Australia get the support they need. And launching this important cyber resilience service today is part of that. It was part of our $640 million in targeted support that we had as part of the small business statement in the last federal Budget. This is about providing targeted support to small businesses that need it, when they need it. And this is just part of the $60 million that the federal government is investing in cyber security for small businesses and supporting them and their digital services online and making sure that small businesses have the tools they need to protect themselves and indeed to grow. I’m really pleased to be able to be here at IDCARE on the Sunshine Coast to launch, the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service is up and operating from today. I’ll hand over to David to talk a little bit about the service and I understand you might have some questions for David, and then I’ll take questions.
LACEY:
Thank you, Minister. We’re incredibly humbled and grateful for the Commonwealth support of IDCARE in delivering this very important initiative on behalf of the Commonwealth government, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, in partnership with Treasury. As the Minister mentioned, this is part of the Australian Cyber Security Strategy and it’s a very important part of the strategy.
IDCARE’s national services have been in operation now for a decade and we’ve had our fair share of small businesses have the courage to reach out, share their stories and talk about the steps they can take to build their resilience. What this funding will do is put that on steroids. And our team’s incredibly excited about the opportunity that it presents in supporting tangibly small businesses across the country. We’re blessed to have Murchison River Swags and Rural Marketing Network present today. Small businesses who’ve been through the rough and tumble of a cyber security event and have come out the other side more resilient and more aware of how to protect their business and the network of customers that they support.
This initiative is really 2 sides of one coin. The first side is to answer questions and be there with small business who have great dreams and aspirations of cementing themselves within the business market, but want to do so in a way that’s more cyber resilient. And so our team of advisers are there to support businesses on that journey. It is a maturity pathway. It’s very much understanding that cyber is not something that you can ignore as a small business. It’s something that goes to the very heart of your success moving forward.
And the other half of that coin, or the other side of that coin, unfortunately, is for those that do find themselves having to respond to a cyber security incident. It takes courage. It requires businesses to be brave, to respond, to own what’s occurred, and to move forward with confidence in responding to that particular incident. Our case management team are second to none. We’re very proud of the fact that over the last 10 years our client satisfaction scores averaged over 8 out of 10. There’s no other response capability in the country that experiences that satisfaction level. And one of the reasons why we experience it is we place that person at the centre of everything we do, that small business owner or that individual in the community, and we walk in their shoes.
So, I just can’t thank the Commonwealth enough for the support that you’ve given IDCARE and the confidence that you have in our service. We relish the opportunity, and we look forward to meeting many more small businesses over the journey in the years to come. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Well, I just wanted to ask, it says, you know here 94,000 cyber crimes were reported in 2022 to ‘23, are you concerned at all that the service will be unable to keep up?
COLLINS:
Well, this is about providing small businesses with a service when they need it. We’ll obviously monitor closely about how many calls this IDCARE is getting through their centre that are being referred through the federal government program. You know, this is about investing in small businesses. We believe we’ve got it right in terms of the calibration of the program, but we’ll obviously carefully consider and monitor how many calls are coming through IDCARE when it comes to this program.
JOURNALIST:
Am I right to ask questions on a different matter?
COLLINS:
Yep, sure. Nothing else about cyber security? Okay.
JOURNALIST:
Last week, David Littleproud said that the government had been slow to react on key Senate recommendations into the red imported fire ants in Australia. What is your response to that?
COLLINS:
What I would say is that we’re actually acting. The Commonwealth government has invested now almost $300 million in the Fire Ant program. We’re working with the Queensland Government. The response now is around $590 million shared costs with the Queensland Government. We want to make sure that we get on top of the red fire ant problem in Queensland and actually eradicate red fire ants from Queensland. And that is the program that we’re supporting, and we have invested. Mr Littleproud can worry about the paperwork. We’re getting on with the job of actually getting rid of fire ants.
JOURNALIST:
Research from last month from the Australian Institute estimated that fire ants could cause 6 deaths and cause households over a million annually, if not eradicated. Does that concern you at all?
COLLINS:
Absolutely. That’s why we’re investing, you know, over $300 million, or around $300 million of federal government money and over 300 million, together with the Queensland Government. $590 odd million in the Imported Red Fire Ant Eradication Program. We want to work with the Queensland Government and we’re investing with the Queensland Government to make sure that we eradicate fire ants. Is that it?
JOURNALIST:
My questions are in respect to Lidia Thorpe, if that’s okay?
JULIE COLLINS:
Yep.
JOURNALIST:
Do you agree with Lidia Thorpe’s actions at the royal reception? Was she exercising her right to free speech?
COLLINS:
Look, I think everybody at the reception yesterday for their Majesties in Canberra appreciated their Majesties coming along. The speeches were terrific. They were incredibly generous with their time as they went round that reception meeting with members of the Australian public. What I would say is I found the disruption disturbing, as many of the people that were in attendance did. And I think Lidia Thorpe should reflect on her behaviour and how she went about it.
JOURNALIST:
Okay, in your opinion, do you think Lidia Thorpe should resign, given, as a Senator, she has pled allegiance to the King?
COLLINS:
Well, that’s a matter for her. You know, we live in a robust democracy in Australia. I think it was disrespectful behavior and I think she should reflect on her behaviour from yesterday.
JOURNALIST:
Do you agree with her calls for a treaty with Indigenous Australians?
COLLINS:
Look, that’s being dealt with across the country by various state and territory governments and really is an issue for state and territory governments. What we’ve done as the Commonwealth, of course, is we’ve delivered on our commitment in terms of the referendum on the Voice. What we have said is that we will listen to the outcome of the Voice. And, really, the question you raise is one for states and territories.
JOURNALIST:
This is just for a grab. Can you just speak to the benefit of this cyber service, specifically to our regional Queensland communities?
COLLINS:
So, the cyber resilience service that we’re launching today is really about supporting small businesses, no matter where they are in the country, and this includes the many regional small businesses across the country. I was talking to Gabrielle and John earlier about their business in Geraldton, about how this support service supported them when they were under attack, and they couldn’t access their social media accounts and their accounts. It’s really important that small businesses are not embarrassed. If they have a cyber security incident, they should pick up the phone and they should contact IDCARE on 1800595170 or go online to idcare/small business to get the support they need. This will help them during the actual cyber incident and help them become more resilient in the future and help them build that resilience.
JOURNALIST:
And what is your understanding of some of the challenges that our more remote communities face when it comes to their cyber day to day?
COLLINS:
Well, we know that a lot of small business owners are often sole traders or really small businesses. They don’t have an IT department. They don’t have a cyber security department. This is about providing them with that service. And the government funding through IDCARE is about providing them with that one‑on‑one case management where they need it. They can pick up a phone and get the support they need. And my real message to small businesses is this could happen to any business around the country. You need not be embarrassed. You should pick up the phone and get the support you need so that your business can continue. We know that these cyber‑attacks can cost small businesses, you know, thousands of dollars, but importantly, actually cost the business its livelihood and in some cases can cost the owners of that business their life savings. We need to make sure that they’ve got the support they need, and that’s what this service is all about.