Cyber safety: NWMPHN receives world standard certification

A person enters a password on their mobile phone to pass cyber security credentials on their laptop
  31 January 2025  NWMPHN   

Information integrity, cybersecurity and privacy protection are of paramount importance to North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN).

In order to properly conduct our work – which includes creating detailed health needs assessments, codesigning family violence prevention programs, overseeing medical care for children and conducting mental health referral assessments – it is critical that we can effectively safeguard all the information we gather and analyse.

Our success in this field has now been confirmed through receiving the world-standard for information security management systems, known as ISO 27001:2022 certification.

The certification, issued by the International Organisation for Standardisation, came after a lengthy and detailed audit of our cyber-management policies and practices, led by Emma McKeown, NWMPHN’s Executive Director, Insight, Performance and Digital Services.

“Ensuring and maintaining the safety and integrity of the data we hold is not only a matter of privacy,” says Emma.

“It’s also a matter of trust. This is crucial given our role in developing the Head to Health data management system on behalf of the national PHN network, and our responsibilities in protecting de-identified general practice data.

“The only way we as an organisation can fully investigate matters and innovate solutions is when all parties involved know that their information is safe and secured.”

The ISO certification reflects the integrity of NWMPHN’s information security management protocols. This was achieved through conducting thorough risk assessments, managing robust access controls, and ensuring monitoring mechanisms can detect threats and respond to them effectively.

It also reflects the efficiency of NWMPHN. The Australian Government requires all 31 primary health networks to achieve ISO 27001:2022 by mid-2026 – meaning we are well ahead of schedule!