Home Affairs mandates government-wide legacy system audit within six months

The Department of Home Affairs announced that all Australian government departments must complete a full inventory and assessment of their legacy IT systems within the next six months, aiming to identify security gaps and plan for modernisation. This directive follows a recent incident in which an OpenAI‑powered agent was able to interact with the Medicare statistics website, highlighting vulnerabilities in older platforms.

The OpenAI interaction with the Medicare site raised concerns about how legacy applications handle third‑party integrations and automated queries. While no personal data was reported as compromised, the event underscored the need for stricter controls and regular testing of government‑run services that may still rely on outdated code or unsupported frameworks.

Legacy systems are often built on technologies that no longer receive security patches, making them attractive targets for both automated bots and more sophisticated threat actors. The stocktake will assess configuration, patch status, and exposure to emerging AI tools, providing a baseline for future migration to cloud‑native or more secure architectures.

For IT professionals and students, the audit signals a growing demand for expertise in network security, system hardening, and migration strategies. Training providers such as Wepro Technology are positioned to help upskill the workforce with courses like Network+, Security+ and CCNA, ensuring that Australian talent can support the government’s modernisation agenda.

The six‑month timeline gives agencies a clear deadline to report findings and develop remediation plans. Officials expect the stocktake to drive a coordinated effort across the public sector, reducing the attack surface and improving resilience against both conventional cyber threats and novel AI‑driven interactions.