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Macquarie Government confirmed that it has teamed up with Fortem Australia, pledging to support the recruitment and transfer of first responders into the cyber security industry as an employment partner.
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As part of the partnership, both organisations are expected to collaborate to reskill Australian first responders into cyber, cloud and data centre security roles. The new recruits will focus on national security and defence ICT.
To achieve this, the company has committed to developing its First Responder Recruitment Strategy, in collaboration with Fortem, to find internal opportunities for members of the first responder community.
Both organisations will further work together to provide training opportunities, resources and networking events to support those looking for a career in the cyber sector.
Fortem Australia was founded in 2019, with the organisation’s co-founder John Bale also co-founding Soldier On, a leading Australian veteran wellbeing charity.
“Australia needs to considerably increase its cyber posture right across the economy. To deliver this uplift we need, as a nation, to exponentially grow the available talent pool,” Aidan Tudehope, Macquarie Government’s managing director said.
“The nature of cyber security means we need to develop and nurture that talent through a sovereign lens — ensuring we have Australians learning and working to protect Australian data.
“Australia’s first responders are among the best in the world. Many of them possess the analytical, investigative, problem-solving, and pattern-recognition skills necessary for success in cyber, defence technology and related industries. In many cases, they already have the essential security clearances needed to work with sensitive data.
“We’re committed to continuing our goal of uplifting Australian sovereign capability in cyber security and ICT, and this important partnership with Fortem will help us in that effort.”
According to managing director and co-founder of Fortem Australia John Bale, the partnership will help members of Australia’s first responder community transition into their future roles.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Macquarie to the Fortem family,” said Bale.
“Partnering with the right companies to enable career transition for first responders and their families is central to our mission to provide specialised wellbeing and mental fitness support to first responder families.
“Macquarie has long championed Australian jobs and skills development and is a leading company in an industry where there is close values alignment with and strong mutual benefits for first responders.”
At the beginning of 2022, Macquarie Government, part of Macquarie Telecom Group, announced the appointment of Defence ICT industry leader and former chief executive officer of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand Mike Foster as director of strategic growth.
The newly created position has been designed to lead Macquarie’s expanding defence and national security capabilities and pursuits, including vertically integrated cyber security, cloud, data centre and telecommunications services.
