House Select Committee on Cyber Security for Small to Medium Sized Businesses and Organisations
21 October 2026
Contents updated on 22 Oct 2026
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10:11 - 11:35
Speaker 1
I'm Sally Sitou, I'm the chair of the committee. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners on the land on which we meet and for those calling in today. I'd also like to pay my respects to elders past, present and acknowledge the cultures of all 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 smaller business owners to make their voices heard by the committee and the survey is still open and available on the inquiry website. I now welcome representatives from Community Council for Australia to give evidence today.
For the Hansard record, would you please state your name and the capacity in which you appear before the committee.
11:35 - 11:43
Speaker 3
I'm David Crosby, I'm CEO of the Community Council for Australia.
11:43 - 11:51
Speaker 2
And David Hofferka, Director of Policy at Community Council for Australia.
11:51 - 12:23
Speaker 1
Welcome to you both. This hearing is a legal proceeding of Parliament. The giving of false or 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 attracts parliamentary privilege. I ask all participants to remain on mute when not speaking to reduce background noise, and I now invite you to make a brief opening statement before we proceed to questions.
12:23 - 14:36
Speaker 3
Thank you chair and and thank you for the opportunity to present to this committee. It's great that not-for-profit organisations were actually included in the terms of reference and it's wonderful to have this opportunity to actually talk about what's happening across the charities and not-for-profit sector in relation to cyber security. We've provided a fairly detailed submission. I don't want to go through that. I should also begin by acknowledging that I'm on Dharug country and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
I just want to make five quick points that are kind of overarching points rather than going to the specifics of our submission. And I think they're important because they relate to how the specific experiences of charities and not-for-profits differ really from small business in many ways. And in many ways, charities and small business are the same, they face many of the same issues, but in many ways they're also very different. Charities are focused on purpose. They seek to serve their cause or their community, and I know each of the members of this committee are heavily involved in their local communities and understand the kind of pressures that charities and not-for-profits face.
The bottom line really is that most are facing short-term funding.
As we pointed out in our submission, the medium term of a government contract now is 12 months. 64% of charity contracts are running for less than 18 months. We're also talking about a sector that's largely driven by volunteers. Around 50% of charities in this country are run by volunteers. 95% of charities turnover less than 10 million, so they're well and truly in the kind of small business, probably micro-business in many ways.
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