The Government of Australia has appointed an Electoral Integrity Task Force to defend its next month’s electoral system from cyber attacks. As Federal elections around the world are prone to state-funded cyber attacks from certain nations (Russia and China), the Australian government has taken the decision to protect the sanctity of the election system and the national integrity of the entire country.
Normally, elections are held for every three years in Australia. And there is often very little time after the expiry of a parliamentary term before the next elections are to be held. The Australian Prime Minister is selected based on the majority of the elected number of parliamentary representatives from a respective party or parties.
Coming to the newly appointed Electoral Integrity Task Force, the Australian government has taken the decision to form the digital task force due to the increasing levels of cyber-enabled interference and disruption observed in the past two years, on the elections held in other countries. This includes US 2016 polls and the Elections conducted in Germany, France, and the UK in the past few months.
Thus, as a precautionary measure to avoid foreign interference on its elections, the government of Australia has decided to adopt legislation aimed to prevent foreign interference by the end of July 2018.
Australia’s Electoral Integrity Task Force will involve multiple agencies, including the Department of Finance and the Department of Home Affairs.
Note- Next month’s elections will test the popularity of the current Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ahead of the national elections to be held late next year.
