"Ground-Breaking Study to Understand the Gender Dimensions of the Security Sector in Australia"
RMIT University, in collaboration with the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN), is conducting a new study on solutions to pressing skill and diversity challenges in the Australian security sector, beginning with an examination of important gender dimensions. According to AustCyber, Australia will need an additional 7,000 cybersecurity practitioners by 2024. Given the growing awareness of the benefits of diversity for organizational performance, decision-making, and responsiveness to real-world challenges, a lack of skills and diversity in the cybersecurity sector implies that the sector is not operating as efficiently as it could. According to current estimates, women make up 11 percent to 24 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Professor Matt Warren, Director of the RMIT Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation, says there is no robust measure of the gender composition of Australia's security industry. Furthermore, the different types of jobs that women in Australia are undertaking and the skills they possess remain unclear. Therefore, the collaborative study will give a more robust and definitive estimate of the gender diversity within the Australian security workforce. The AWSN's Executive Director, Jacqui Loustau, stated that the study will allow the organization to assess the impact of its initiatives. By establishing a baseline and gaining better insight into the actual number of women working in the security industry, AWSN will be able to assess the success of initiatives aimed at attracting, supporting, and retaining women in the industry. Professor Warren encourages all members of the Australian security workforce, including physical security, personnel security, information security, cybersecurity, and security governance, to participate in the "Australian Security Industry Workforce - Understanding Gender Dimensions Project Survey." This article continues to discuss the study aimed at getting a better understanding of the Australian security sector's gender dimensions.