Data Management
Business Practices
Aged care guide to implementing the ACSC Essential Eight.
Compliance with Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 became a regulatory floor for aged care providers on 1 November 2025. While this is a great initiative in providing a minimum standard for the data security of our elders (and their carers), it is just that - a minimum standard - that often feels more like a “tick‑the‑box” exercise than something with obvious benefit.
Why Essential Eight is mandatory (and hard to love)
Aged care providers must now "demonstrate" compliance with the Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 controls (particularly around patching, access control, and backups) to meet government quality audit expectations. In practice, compliance with these obligations shows up as extra "low value" reporting at a minimum, or rushed technical changes that feel disconnected from day‑to‑day care delivery and resident requirements.
The Essential Eight maturity model is technical by design, using control language and implementation detail that is difficult for non-IT clinical and executive leaders to translate into clear operational benefits. As a result, many organisations are treating it as an obligation rather than an opportunity, focusing on minimum compliance instead of using it to reduce real‑world risks like account takeover, data loss, or critical system outages.
How SMB1001 gives you an initial leg‑up
SMB1001 is a cyber security certification framework that breaks good security into practical, business‑friendly steps, supported by policies, processes, and training targeted directly at non‑technical leaders. It focuses on embedding cyber security into everyday technology management, access control, and staff behaviour, rather than relying solely on tools or one‑off projects.
For aged care providers struggling to move from “paper compliance” to real improvement, SMB1001 acts as the organising framework that enables the Essential Eight. By following clearly defined SMB1001 practices for devices, accounts, backups, monitoring, and staff awareness, organisations often find they reach or sustain Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 more quickly and with less disruption to care.
Re‑frame your starting point:
compliance + value = great outcomes
Begin by acknowledging that Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 is a non‑negotiable!
Then design your program so that each control change is linked to a practical outcome that SMB1001 defines, clearly explains and implements. For example, tightening patching routines under Essential Eight becomes more meaningful when SMB1001 turns it into a managed, repeatable process with clear responsibilities, schedules, and escalation paths.
Similarly, Essential Eight requirements for multi‑factor authentication and restricted admin access stop being “IT rules” when SMB1001 governance and training help staff understand how those measures prevent account misuse and system tampering that could affect resident safety or clinical workflows.
The combined view allows executives to see compliance tasks as part of an integrated cyber resilience roadmap rather than a series of disconnected checklists.
Practical integration: using SMB1001 to drive the Essential Eight
Translating each Essential Eight strategy into activities that sit within SMB1001 themes such as technology management, access control, and staff awareness is straightforward. For example:
- Application Control and User Application Hardening map naturally into SMB1001 practices around standardised device builds, secure configurations, and controlled software installation.
- Patch Applications and Patch Operating Systems align with SMB1001’s emphasis on documented maintenance, supplier management, and regular health checks for core systems.
- Restrict Administrative Privileges and Multi‑Factor Authentication fit within SMB1001’s access control and identity management practices, which focus on least privilege and strong authentication for critical systems.
- Regular Backups link to SMB1001 expectations around continuity, tested restores, and clear ownership of backup routines for both on‑premise and cloud services.
By embedding these controls inside SMB1001 processes, we've found that aged care providers move away from the one‑off pain of compliance tasks and towards a calm, managed security posture where Essential Eight requirements are naturally met as part of daily operations.
Governance, measurement, and visible assurance
To sustain progress, the establishment of an internal governance process that treats Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 as a baseline and SMB1001 certification as the visible proof that you are moving beyond bare minimum compliance. Establishing a cyber risk (or broader information security) committee, which includes clinical leadership, executive and resident/family representatives with a simple dashboard that tracks Essential Eight maturity, key metrics (patch levels, MFA coverage, backup success), and your current SMB1001 status.
Independent assessments and SMB1001 certification audits provide external validation that your controls actually work, which is valuable for boards, insurers, and regulators.
When combined with quarterly exercises, regular reviews and wide stakeholder engagement, this approach turns Essential Eight from a static requirement into a measurable improvement pathway, with SMB1001 giving you a structured, certifiable way to show that your cyber posture is strengthening over time.
