Reaching towards the next cyber security ‘horizon’ a worthy endeavour
9 September 2025
The Law Council commends the Australian Government on its progress against its Cyber Security Strategy Horizon 1 priorities and supports further work being undertaken to ensure regulatory, legislative, and policy settings in this important space are effective and appropriate.
In its submission on Horizon 2 of the 2023–2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, the Law Council emphasised the need to ensure proportionality, consistency, and certainty within the regulatory landscape, while recognising the very real and potentially devastating impacts of cyber security threats.
“Data protection, especially for sensitive personal information, is vitally important,” Law Council of Australia President, Juliana Warner said. “All businesses have a role to play in keeping information safe.
“Given the significant harms caused by cyberattacks and data breaches on individuals and organisations, cyber security management should no longer be considered optional.
“However, as we strive to address cyber threats, we must be cognisant of the regulatory and cost burden this can create, particularly for small and medium businesses.
“Small businesses are increasingly under pressure to manage compliance and risks associated with cybercrime, privacy and data security, and other reporting obligations.
“Consequently, small businesses require support and consideration when it comes to cyber security regulatory decision making.
“This is particularly the case for the legal profession, where the vast majority of legal practices in Australia are sole practitioners or small-to medium-sized businesses.
“In the Law Institute of Victoria’s recent Legal Costs Benchmarking Survey, firms reported that four of the top 10 cost challenges for small law firms relate to cyber, data, IT security, and regulation.
“The Law Council believes it is essential the Government provide targeted grants, incentives, or subsidies to assist small businesses, including small legal practices, to encourage uptake of better cyber security practices.
“This is particularly pertinent, in light of growing regulatory burdens faced by small legal firms, such as the rollout of Tranche 2 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) regime.”
Contact
Kristen Connell
P. 0400 054 227
E. kristen.connell@lawcouncil.au
Last Updated on 30/09/2025
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