Queensland is paying for cyber security and AI training right now — here's what's actually on offer
I keep coming back to the same theme on this blog: most of the risk small businesses, schools and not-for-profits carry isn’t a technology gap, it’s a literacy gap. Boards, owners and managers making reasonable-sounding decisions without quite the right frame of reference. So when a government program shows up offering to close that gap for free, it’s worth a proper look rather than a skim.
Two separate Queensland Government-funded programs currently qualify.
The $11.5 million UniSC micro-credentials program
On 29 July 2026, the Crisafulli Government announced an expanded $11.5 million investment in free micro-credential courses for small and family businesses, delivered by the University of the Sunshine Coast. It’s part of the government’s Small and Family Business First Action Statement — an election commitment rather than a pilot program — and six new courses are being added by 2029.
Three courses are open for enrolment now, all free for Queensland-based small and family businesses:
- Business Planning — 2 hours a week for 6 weeks
- Continuity Planning — building resilience into how the organisation operates
- Workforce Planning for Business — a 7-week course on productivity and operational efficiency
Registrations for 2026 intakes are opening soon through UniSC’s business planning course page.
The courses I’d actually flag for this audience — artificial intelligence, cyber security and procurement — are still in development, expected early 2027. Register interest now if any of those are relevant to you; it’s currently the only way to get notified the moment enrolments open.
A free cyber security micro-credential you can do sooner
Separately from the UniSC program, TAFE Queensland already runs a free, stand-alone cyber security micro-credential through the Queensland Future Skills Partnership — led by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, with TAFE Queensland and CQUniversity as education partners, funded through investment from the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan.
It’s short — roughly 6 to 8 hours, blended across a self-paced online module, a practical activity and a facilitated webinar or workshop — and it’s aimed at exactly the audience I’d want reading this: people who need working awareness of cyber security risk without becoming a technical specialist. The course covers:
- Current and emerging trends in cyber security
- Cyber security threats and their business impact
- The legislation and frameworks relevant to cyber security in Australia
- How to support cyber security efforts within a workplace
- How current technology may reshape cyber security practice going forward
Expressions of interest are particularly encouraged from workers in regional locations, which is most of Queensland outside the south-east corner.
Who this is actually for
Neither program requires a technical background, and that’s the point. I wrote recently about ASD’s frontier AI guidance for boards, and the same argument applies here: cyber security literacy at board and ownership level isn’t a nice-to-have anymore, it’s a governance responsibility, and it doesn’t require anyone to become an engineer to meet it. A short, free, government-funded course is about as low-friction a way as exists to build that literacy — the TAFE cyber security micro-credential in particular is a sensible fit for a business owner, manager or board member who wants a working grasp of the landscape rather than a technical qualification.
What free training won’t do is tell you whether your own organisation’s email, accounts and network are actually configured properly today — that’s a different question, and one Suburban Secure works through directly via managed IT services and network security services. But building the literacy first tends to make that conversation a much better one.