MTAA Welcomes Release of Cyber Security Strategy
The Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) has welcomed the release of the Government’s 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.
The Strategy’s release comes on the heels of MTAA’s Digital Health Report which highlighted cyber security as an urgent national problem, requiring immediate action. The Report noted cyber-attacks were a growing threat to healthcare, with a number of significant security incidents having already affected Australians.
MTAA CEO, Ian Burgess, said the MedTech industry commended the Government’s investment into health-specific cyber security through a direct investment of $4.9 million to build a threat sharing platform for the health sector.
“As the world we live in continues to be enveloped by digital technologies, the risks that come with the benefits of such changes requires real and coordinated responses from government and industry to protect information and people,” Mr Burgess said.
“We were pleased to see the Government has adopted our Report’s recommendation to implement a body similar to Singapore’s Cyber Security Labelling Scheme (CLS), which was developed in consultation with industry, and serves as an excellent example of a voluntary regulation that helps increase consumer trust in medical devices. This directly aligns with Australia’s own Strategy ‘to help consumers make informed choices about the security of devices on the market’.”
As the peak body representing more than 100 MedTech companies in Australia, MTAA has called for the implementation of uniform cyber security provisions for all players in the supply chain.
Through the MTAA Cyber Security Working Group and Digital Health Advisory Group, industry is at the forefront of fostering digital health and cyber security expertise by increasing local workforce capabilities.
MTAA is looking forward to continuing to work with government and health sector stakeholders to develop a local fit-for-purpose cyber security framework that protects Australians and health technologies.
