Macquarie Cloud Services Bolsters Launch™ Health Cloud Offering as Government’s Cyber Security Compliance Deadline Looms

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 15 February, 2019 – Macquarie Cloud Services, a division of Macquarie Telecom Group, has bolstered its dedicated healthcare private cloud offering, Launch™ Health Cloud, as the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) stringent Secure Cloud Strategy compliance deadline looms for Australian software companies.

The DHS Secure Cloud Strategy has been designed to protect the integrity of people’s data entrusted to the Department. Its mandatory compliance policy applies to third-parties using cloud services who connect with the Department to deliver services such as Medicare, PBS, DVA, NDIS, MyHealthRecord, Aged Care and Child Care.

The deadline is timely as the Office of Australian Information Commission’s (OAIC) most recent report revealed that healthcare remains the highest ranked sector in Australia for breaches, representing over a third (36%) of all data breaches reported.

Phil Wallace, Head of Customer Experience at Macquarie Cloud Services, said readying for compliance is not an ‘if’ or ‘when’ but a ‘must now’ and should be ranked high on the priority list for Australian software companies connecting with DHS online services.

“The fact the compliance deadline has moved from a fixed date in April to become tied to individual product accreditation renewals means many software developers may be caught unprepared, non-compliant and as a result unable to connect specific products to DHS online services.

“The accreditation and compliance process takes several months so every Australian healthcare software company should be documenting its specific product renewal dates and factoring in a 3-6 month accreditation timeline tracking backwards from that date,” said Mr Wallace.  

Mandatory DHS accreditation includes Australian Signals Directorate CCSL Certification and Data Sovereignty stating all data must remain onshore within Australian jurisdiction. Highly desirable is physical separation of server infrastructure and security clearances being limited to citizens holding NV1 clearance.

Macquarie Cloud Services launched its dedicated healthcare private cloud, Launch™ Health Cloud, that meets these stringent requirements in June 2018. The company is now working with the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) to proactively educate the industry on policy and mandatory accreditation requirements. It’s first education session will be held in Sydney on March 21^st and will include speakers from DHS, MSIA and learnings from Mike Smith, CEO of Greenlight ITC as one of the earliest partners to achieve compliance.

Emma Hossack, CEO of MSIA has commended Macquarie Cloud Services for its support and programs guiding cyber security compliance for the Australian medical software industry.  

“Healthcare organisations today are already subject to the Australian Privacy Act and Notifiable Data Breaches scheme and cyber security continues to be a very important area for our membership,” said Ms Hossack. “Offering both educational sessions as well as a straight-forward path to accreditation and compliance is a part of our ongoing vigilance in this area.”  

Macquarie’s ‘built-for-government’ secure Launch™ Health Cloud was designed from the ground up to meet the most rigorous security requirements. Its features include:

·        All data to remain onshore;

·        All data to be in a physically separated cloud, dedicated to Australian health system data;

·        Formal NV1 personnel certifications

·        Data will be stored on ASD accredited CCSL cloud infrastructure.

“We’re Australia’s most-recommended cloud provider because we’re everything others aren’t. We’re 100% over here, not over there.  We work with 40% of all federal government agencies, with over 100 NV1 engineers and with our own Australian Data Centres. Because security is at the heart of everything we do, our solutions are independently certified for peak standards including ISO (data security), PCI (financial data), ISM (government), DHS (healthcare), and for PROTECTED Data (certified by the Australian Signals Directorate, and powered by Macquarie Government)

“In essence, when we couldn’t find the perfect cloud solution for the Australian healthcare industry, we went ahead and built it from the ground up,” said Mr Wallace.

Macquarie Cloud Services Medical Software Accreditation Session:

When:             8.00am – 10.00am, Thursday 21 March

Where:            Ballroom, Macquarie Cloud Services, level 15, 2 Market Street, Sydney 
Registration   Call 1800 004 943 or register at https://macquariecloudservices.com/events/health-cloud-2019/ 
Cost:               Free however places are strictly limited so register early

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About Macquarie Cloud Services

Macquarie Cloud Services are Australia’s most-recommended provider of Data Centre, Hybrid and Private cloud solutions for business and government, and home to the leading Launch^TM Health Cloud platform.