Hamish Hansford was appointed the Group Manager and Inaugural Head of the Australian Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre. The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre brings together Australia’s ‘all hazards’ protection of 11 critical infrastructure sectors of the Australian economy.

The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre has a direct regulatory sectoral responsibility for aviation and maritime security and telecommunications security.

Increasingly, the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre will focus on cyber security issues including how to protect and then respond to serious cyber security incidents in partnership with the National Situation Room and the Australian Cyber Security Centre. The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre will also have a focus on ensuring that cyber incident reports are made to the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Immediately prior to this role, Hamish was the First Assistant Secretary of the Cyber, Digital and Technology Policy Division, where he led the delivery and implementation of Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020, cybercrime policy, online harms policy including combating terrorist use of the internet and child exploitation, as well as critical and emerging technology and data security policy.

During the first half of 2020, Hamish supported the response to COVID-19 efforts through the Home Affairs COVID-19 Task Force.

Prior to this Hamish was the First Assistant Secretary of National Security and Law Enforcement Policy Divisions where he delivered Australia’s first ever modern slavery act, surveillance, investigatory powers and lawful access reforms, as well as hardening of Australia’s counter money laundering, illicit firearms, terrorist financing and child exploitation regimes.

Hamish has held Senior Executive positions in the former Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the former Australian Crime Commission. Hamish has also served in a range of intelligence, policy, planning, program delivery roles in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Attorney General’s Department, the Australian Senate and the former Office of Transport Security.

Hamish started his career in the National Museum of Australia.