Status: Open for Consultation till Jun 30th

Published: 20MAY2026 

The CyberPath Occupations Framework aims to create a clear, scalable, and future‑ready structure for describing cyber work in Australia. It provides the foundation for professional standards, competency models, assessment pathways, and national workforce planning. 

Why an Occupations Framework is required

Right now, cyber job titles and descriptions vary wildly between organisations. A “Security Analyst” in one company might be doing completely different work in another. The CyberPath Occupations Framework aims to fix this by creating a common language for cyber roles across Australia. It’s not a rigid set of job descriptions. Instead, it’s a flexible guide that organisations can adapt to their own context. It provides a simple, structured way to describe cyber work. Core design principles shaped via international research and previous consultation rounds include: 

• Grouping similar types of cyber work into functional domains
• Defining roles based on real tasks, skills, and responsibilities 
• Alignment with Australia’s national occupation system (OSCA)
• Supporting both specialists and generalists, including people in small organisations who wear many hats 
• Supporting the visualisation of pathways for people moving into cyber from other tech adjacent, as well as non-technical disciplines
• Developing a structure that can evolve as technology and threats change 

Who this helps

The framework is designed to support the following user journeys: 

• People entering or growing their cyber career - You’ll get a clearer picture of what different cyber roles involve and how your skills can transfer.
• Employers - You’ll be able to map your workforce more easily, write clearer job descriptions, and plan capability needs. 
• Educators and trainers - You’ll have a consistent structure to align courses and programs with industry expectations.
• Government and policymakers - You’ll get better categorisation of data leading to clearer insights into Australia’s cyber workforce needs. 

What we’re seeking feedback on

The discussion has been grouped into six Consultation Themes. CyberPath encourages users to read the Occupations Framework Discussion Paper below and provide your feedback via the Web Form. 

1. Framework Scalability, Fit, and Application - Whether the overall occupation/role model and approach reflects how Australian organisations operate — including gaps, mismatches, and potential risks in the proposed design. This includes whether the framework appropriately accounts for hybrid or multi-disciplinary roles where practitioners span more than one defined role.
2. Standardised Role Discriptions - CyberPath has proposed a standardised way to build role descriptions accommodating both industry and custom fields to support use across a variety of stakeholders and organisations. Are the proposed fields accurate, complete, and feasible for future adoption in industry or your organisation?
3. Functional Domains: Fit, Gaps, and Clarity - Are the proposed functional domain groupings are intuitive and complete? Is there any overlap or grey areas for clarification?
4. MVP CyberPath Roles - Do the four roles proposed provide a broad enough cross-section of the cyber workforce to pilot and test the CyberPath framework (i.e., technical, governance, operational, leadership)?
5. Global Frameworks - CyberPath has gathered insights from a range of global and Australian frameworks, but which frameworks should influence CyberPath as the program moves into Capability Framework development?
6. Organisation Adoption and Scalability - What do organisations need to successfully adopt these pilot roles (e.g., support, resource and considerations across large orgs, government, critical infrastructure, and SMBs)?

Submit Your Feedback

This public consultation provides an open and structured opportunity for all interested parties to contribute feedback on the CyberPath Occupations Framework. Whether you’re a cyber practitioner, employer, educator, student, or simply interested in Australia’s cyber future, your voice matters. Your feedback will help refine the domains, role definitions, taxonomy, and pilot design. Thank you for your consideration and feedback.

1. Read the Discussion Paper and select at least one Consultation Theme. Multiple themes may be selected.
2. Prepare a written response. Responses should be organised by the selected theme(s). Please limit your response to 500 words per theme.
3. Submit your response via the Web Form by 5:00 PM AEST on 30 June 2026 
4. (Optional) Register your interest. Keep up to date on CyberPath activities, events, future consultation rounds, and pilot design.

Refer to the CyberPath Occupations Framework Discussion Web Form for full terms and conditions, including ACS’s Privacy Policy and Data Collection Notice. For questions or additional support, email the CyberPath Program Team at cyberpath@acs.org.au.

Author: Jakub Zverina