NSW loses cyber security chief to Human Services

Dr Maria Milosavljevic appointed chief data officer at Department of Human Services

New South Wales’ government chief information security officer (GCISO) Dr Maria Milosavljevic has left her role for a new position at the Commonwealth’s Department of Human Services.

The state government in Mach 2017 announced that it had managed to lure Milosavljevic from her role as chief innovation officer at AUSTRAC, appointing her to be NSW’s first GCISO.

In the GCISO role, Milosavljevic oversaw the development of a cyber security strategy for the state. The strategy was unveiled in September 2018, with the state government last year pledging $20 million to boost the security of NSW agencies.

“With great support from agencies, we have achieved a lot in a short space of time to make sure that we are addressing the increasing risks to our systems and information,” Milosavljevic wrote in a blog entry published in December.

She said that those achievements included establishing Cyber Security Senior Officers’ Group, writing a new Cyber Security Policy to replace the former Digital Information Security Policy, creating an operations team to help agencies with threat email advisories, approving whole-of-government incident response plans, and conducting response exercises.

Credit: Maria Milosavljevic

The Office of the GCISO also commissioned a ‘Passive Security Assessment’ that scanned 3257 NSW government web domains and subdomains for vulnerabilities, and worked on whole of government procurement deals.

In an email sent today to colleagues, Milosavljevic said that her office had enjoyed a “groundswell of support both inside and outside of NSW Government”.

“This role is all about relationships and I’ve enjoyed a great many new ones,” she wrote.

Anthony Chapman will be acting in the GCISO role following Milosavljevic’s departure.

Milosavljevic said that she would finish up at NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation today and take a brief period of leave before commencing the role of chief data officer at the Department of Human Services.


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