Department of Health and Aged Care gains new cyber security leader

Services Australia’s National Manager of Cyber Operations, David Lang, will take a prominent position in aged care moving forward after being revealed as the Department of Health and Aged Care’s new cyber security leader.

Mr Lang replaces Monique Morgan, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security, who has been promoted to Assistant Secretary and Corporate Systems Lead.

As Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Mr Lang will now work under the Chief Digitial and Information Officer, Fay Flevaras.

The Department of Health and Aged Care has received a considerable amount of funding in recent years for its information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. 

This includes $174.5 million from the 2024 Budget to implement the new Support at Home program and single assessment system, while over $500 million was allocated to the Department across both the 2022 and 2023 Budgets.

Additionally, the Government announced in June that it had allocated $69.4 million for critical ICT and cyber security uplift within the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

In a statement to iTnews, the department said Lang will continue rolling out an ongoing cyber security uplift program.

“The department has a focus on implementing best practice cyber security practices and has an in-flight cyber security uplift program,” a spokesperson said.

“The CISO role supports this continued uplift.”

During his tenure with Services Australia, Mr Lang oversaw cyber governance policy, cyber threat intelligence and cyber operations.

Prior to that, he held a number of positions with the Australian Electoral Commission during a decade-long sting. His final role before joining Services Australia was as the Assistant Commissioner IT and acting Chief Information Officer.

His role will be critical moving forward as aged care reform processes have resulted in the sector capturing more data than ever before. Heightened cyber security will be essential in protecting the data of both providers and aged care consumers.