House Select Committee on Cyber Security for Small to Medium Sized Businesses and Organisations
18 October 2026
Contents updated on 19 Oct 2026
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15:08 - 17:18
Member of the House of Representatives | Reid (NSW)
I now welcome our colleagues and friends from academia to give evidence today. And for the Hansard record, could you please state your name and the capacity in which you appear? Oh, apologies, I've missed a page, my opening statement.
Good morning and welcome to the public hearing of the Select Committee on Cyber Security for Small to Medium Sized Businesses and Organisations. My name is Sally Sitou, I'm the chair of the committee and I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners on the land on which we meet and are zooming in from. I would like to pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge the cultures of any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people present with us today. This hearing will be broadcast on the Parliament's website and the proof and official transcripts of the proceedings will be published on the committee's webpage. I remind members of the media who may be present or listening online of the need to fairly and accurately report the proceedings of the committee.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to note that the committee has put out a survey to hear from small businesses and organisations about their experiences with cyber security. This is an easy way for small business owners to make their voices heard by the committee and the survey is still open and available on the inquiry website. Now, I'd like to invite our witnesses here who are giving evidence today. For the Hansard record, could you please state your name and the capacity in which you appear before the committee? I might kick off with Dr. Chidua Wakdwani and then followed by Associate Professor Allen, Professor Berg and Professor Gondal.
17:18 - 17:33
Aladin Chidukwani
Cybersecurity practitioner, educator and researcher; lead cyber security advisor for Bunnings Group Australia and New Zealand
Thank you, Chair. This is Dr. Aladin Chidukwani and I'm presenting in my personal capacity as a cyber security practitioner, educator and researcher. Thank you.
17:33 - 17:44
Darcy Allen
Associate Professor and academic economist at RMIT University
My name is Darcy Allen and I'm appearing in my private capacity today. And my colleague Chris Berg is on another link, he will join in a moment.
17:44 - 17:55
Iqbal Gondal
Professor of cybersecurity at RMIT University
I'm Professor Iqbal Gondal. I am also appearing in personal capacity, although I work with RMIT University.
17:55 - 18:45
Member of the House of Representatives | Reid (NSW)
Great. And we will invite Professor Berg to introduce himself when he comes online. This hearing is a legal proceeding of the Parliament. The giving of false and misleading evidence is a serious matter and may be regarded as a contempt of Parliament. The evidence given today will be recorded by Hansard and attract parliamentary privilege.
And could I please ask all participants to remain on mute while if you are not talking. I now invite you to make a brief opening statement before we proceed to questions and might do it in the same order that we made the introductions.
18:45 - 19:50
Aladin Chidukwani
Cybersecurity practitioner, educator and researcher; lead cyber security advisor for Bunnings Group Australia and New Zealand
Thank you, Chair. As you may be aware, I work in my day job for Bunnings. I'm the lead cyber security advisor for Bunnings Group Australia and New Zealand, but I'm appearing in my personal capacity today. I recently completed a PhD focused on the cyber security posture of Australian SMBs and my submission is based on the six years of research into this critical national issue. So my research took an unprecedented look into the operational cyber security of SMBs which were in my study.
My interest in this topic began from a genuine concern having worked in the industry for many years. I observed that even large organisations were having challenges with their cyber security journeys and that led me to ask the simple question that if large organisations are struggling despite having substantial resources, then how are SMBs coping with this challenge?