The CISO moves that made headlines in 2021

March: After two years as chief data officer at Services Australia, Maria Milosavljevic moved into the agency’s chief information security officer role. She was previously the NSW government’s CISO and was chief innovation officer and CISO at AUSTRAC before that.

March: Jamie Norton left the Australian Taxation Office to become a partner at advisory and restructuring firm McGrathNicol. He was in the CISO role for three years, having joined from NEC Australia in March 2018.

April: Anthony Kitzelmann moved from the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to Airservices Australia. During his time at the ADHA, Kitzelmann was responsible for protecting the My Health Record system and the sensitive data contained within, as well as other national health systems.

May: Derek Winter joined UNSW as its chief information security officer after five years at Group of Eight competitor, the University of Sydney. Winter’s arrival followed a two-year search for a CISO that was delayed by the pandemic.

May: Will Luker was appointed the South Australian government’s chief information security officer after the departure of David Goodman. Luker has worked in cyber security and emergency management at the Department of Premier and Cabinet since 2014.

June: Brendan Smith resurfaced as Cube Networks’ chief information security officer after departing Tabcorp in November 2020. Prior to joining Tabcorp in 2017, Smith spent 12 years at Fujitsu Australia.

August: Yvette Lejins left Jetstar to join global cyber security firm Proofpoint as its resident CISO for the Asia Pacific region. She spent four-and-a-half years as the budget airline’s CISO, including almost a year in the expand role of head of cyber business protect.

October: Toby Amodio replaced Ian McKenzie as chief information security officer of the Department of Parliamentary Services. He was previously deputy CISO at the Australia Taxation Officer, but spent the six months prior to his departure as acting CISO.

November: Fred Thiele left Transport for NSW after almost three years in the role to return to the private sector. During his time at the agency, he initiated a significant cyber security upgrade and established the Transport cyber defence team.

November: Rahn Wakeley moved from Great Southern Bank to security software vendor Qualys after two years as chief information security officer. He has become one of four regional chief technology security officers at Qualys, a role that will see him assist customers and partners in Australia and New Zealand.

December: Heng Mok will leave AGL in December after a year-and-a-half in the chief information security officer role. He stepped into the role in July 2020 following the departure of former CISO Samantha MacLeod. Mok has worked at AGL since June 2016 and has previously worked at NAB, ANZ and IAG.