Despite millions spent, Australia’s new cybersecurity strategy is yet to be seen. 

The Australian government's ambitious 2023-2030 cyber security strategy has already cost taxpayers $2.8 million, leaving some wondering when, or if, they might see the promised plan in action.

Answering a query from Senator James Paterson during a recent Senate estimates session, the Department of Home Affairs revealed that a significant chunk of the expenditure, approximately $2.4 million, went straight to consulting giant KPMG. 

The firm was supposedly hired to tackle tasks ranging from developing briefings and stakeholder engagement to managing the entire strategy project.

Additionally, CyberCX managed to secure a substantial $170,500 paycheck for their contribution - a report focused on analysing global threat sharing and blocking approaches. 

Meanwhile, Clyde and Co. received a lesser yet noteworthy sum of just over $63,000 for specialised legal advice.

The government decided to reset the cyber security strategy development process in August 2022, finally releasing a discussion paper in December of the same year. Although some submissions were prematurely disclosed, the department has been reluctant to publish the full slate of responses.