The Australian government will invest at least $2 billion over the next decade to bolster Australia’s cyber capabilities with the announcement of a strategic partnership between the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Australia to deliver a Top Secret (TS) Cloud for the Australian government.
The partnership will see AWS establish a sovereign TS Cloud in Australia to deliver resilient information, communication and technology (ICT) services for the Australian government, generating up to 2,000 local Australian jobs.
The TS Cloud will be purpose-built for Australia’s Defence and National Intelligence Community agencies to securely host our country’s most sensitive information. It will improve our ability to securely share and analyse our nation’s most classified data at speed and at scale, and provides opportunities to harness leading technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The TS Cloud will bolster the resilience of Defence’s communications networks and is a critical enabling capability in supporting the Australian Defence Force’s military operations, and will also support greater interoperability and deeper collaboration with the United States.
This partnership with AWS is a major investment from the government and is another important step in implementing the 2024 National Defence Strategy. This significant investment is part of the $15‑20 billion to 2033-34 to enhance Defence’s cyber capabilities and the $8.5-11 billion to 2033-34 to bolster Defence’s enterprise data and ICT announced in the 2024 Integrated Investment Program.
The joint initiative offers significant opportunities for Australian industry. It will see AWS engage Australian businesses to design and build the TS Cloud, driving innovation and job creation in cybersecurity, data analytics and cloud computing. Australia’s defence industry will see additional benefits with new opportunities to deliver and integrate new capabilities using these cloud services.
The TS Cloud builds on AWS’ planned $13.2 billion investment in Australian infrastructure to 2027 – the largest tech investment in Australia’s history, supporting the creation of 11,000 local jobs. This is in addition to the $9.1 billion AWS has invested in Australian infrastructure since its launch in 2011.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “My government is bolstering our defence and national intelligence community to ensure they can deliver world leading protection for our nation. This important investment today will help enhance our national security capabilities while creating up to 2,000 local jobs. We face a range of complex and serious security challenges and I am incredibly proud of the work our national security agencies undertake on a daily basis to keep Australians safe. We must never underestimate their value and importance. That is what this investment today is about.”
Minister for Defence Richard Marles said: “The Albanese Government is enhancing Defence’s cyber capabilities as a matter of priority under the National Defence Strategy by investing at least $2 billion to establish and operate a Top Secret Cloud platform which is central to achieving this objective. This cutting-edge technology will enhance Defence’s resilience, improve the ADF’s warfighting capacity, strengthen interoperability with key international partners and deliver up to 2,000 Australian jobs. This significant investment is a reflection of the Albanese Government’s sensible approach to prioritising the enabling capabilities our Defence Force needs in order to address the complex strategic circumstances we face.”
Director-General Australian Signals Directorate, Rachel Noble said: “This is another fantastic example of what we can achieve for Australia when the private and public sector work together in partnership. The Top Secret Cloud with Amazon Web Services in Australia will provide a state-of-the-art collaborative space for our intelligence and defence community to store and access top secret data. This will transform how we work together as agencies and partners. For ASD, this capability is a vital part of our REDSPICE program which is lifting our intelligence and offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.”
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