Free Townsville workshop: AI & Cyber Skills Every Small Business Needs
This is not a workshop I am running, but it is a useful local opportunity worth sharing.
Townsville businesses can spend an afternoon getting beyond the hype around artificial intelligence and working through the practical questions: where AI can genuinely save time, how to check its work, and how to use it without creating new security or privacy problems.
The AI & Cyber Skills Every Small Business Needs workshop is free to attend at Rydges Southbank on Tuesday, 8 September 2026. It is aimed at businesses that are curious or cautious about AI, just getting started, or looking to build stronger cyber practices across their teams.
Register for the free workshop through the event’s Microsoft Form.
Workshop details
- Date: Tuesday, 8 September 2026
- Time: 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
- Venue: Rydges Southbank, Townsville
- Cost: Free
- Catering: Lunch is provided
What the workshop covers
This is an introductory, practical session with no technical background required. The invitation says attendees will learn how to:
- speed up daily tasks using simple AI prompts;
- check AI errors before customers spot them;
- protect business data and reputation; and
- avoid common scams and cyber threats.
Those subjects belong in the same room. AI can make routine work faster, but a confident, polished answer is not necessarily a correct one. The information entered into an AI service can matter just as much as the answer it produces, particularly when staff are dealing with customer details, internal documents or commercially sensitive material.
The registration page frames the session around proven ways AI and cyber security can help a business. It also asks registrants about their current use of AI, workforce challenges and where the technology could be most useful. That should help keep the discussion grounded in the actual needs of the businesses in the room.
The speakers
- Miranda Mears, Australian Impact Group
- Damian O’Keefe, Team Leader - Cyber Safety and Security at Townsville Catholic Education
- Luisa Grant, Industry Skills Jobs Advisor
- Mel Vearing, Industry Workforce Advisor
I heard Damian O’Keefe speak at an ACS Townsville Chapter event, AI vs AI: How Attackers and Defenders Use Artificial Intelligence, in October 2025. That session used a real-world phishing case to show how attackers are already using AI to create more convincing threats, while defenders can use AI and automation to improve resilience.
ACS’s event wrap-up describes the session as a practical look at the double-edged role of AI in cyber security. It was a grounded treatment of the subject, which makes Damian’s involvement in this small-business workshop particularly welcome.
Why it is worth attending
Small businesses do not need an elaborate AI strategy before experimenting with the technology, but they do need some boundaries. Staff should know what information must stay out of public AI tools, when an answer needs human checking, and how scams can use AI-generated writing, voices and images to appear more credible.
A free two-and-a-half-hour workshop is a sensible place to start those conversations. It also complements the longer free AI and cyber security training opportunities already available to Queensland small businesses, while giving Townsville operators an in-person session they can attend now.
Registration is required. Reserve a place through the official registration form.