Marie Patane

Marie Patane is the Chief Cyber Security Officer of the NSW Government, appointed in February 2025.

She also carries the title of Executive Director of Cyber Security NSW within the Department of Customer Service. The state government used that title for her in a January 2026 ministerial release.

Career path

Her longest stretch came at Qantas, where she spent almost 13 years in a variety of roles.

She then worked at The Star Entertainment Group and moved from there to Sydney Metro in 2020.

At Sydney Metro she was executive director of enterprise security. She held that post when the NSW government named her as its new chief cyber security officer.

The appointment, announced in February 2025, was a permanent one.

Remit and the state cyber strategy

A Department of Customer Service spokesperson said her task would be to deliver strong security strategies that protect the people of NSW and the state's critical systems.

In January 2026 the Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government released a new Cyber Security Strategy for the NSW Government. Cyber security specialists from across government built it together to protect essential services against more sophisticated threats.

Speaking as Cyber Security NSW Executive Director, Patane described the document's basis: "This strategy is based on strengthening our approach to cyber resilience and draws on deep interagency collaboration to ensure we work together across government to protect systems and citizens’ information."

She said that close work with agency Chief Information Security Officers over the preceding 12 months made the strategy possible.

She also said that, with the strategy in place, government had strengthened its foundations to meet the current risk environment and to support ongoing security measures.

Public appearances

Patane took part in a fireside chat on cyber.gov.au with State and Territory Chief Information Security Officers. The discussion covered the shared responsibility of government, industry and individuals for Australia's cyber security posture and resilience.

Her fellow participants were:

• Stephanie Crowe, Head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre at the Australian Signals Directorate
• Julian Valtas, Chief Information Security Officer of the ACT Government
• Darryn Van Someren, Acting Chief Information Security Officer of the SA Government

The conversation addressed what government, businesses, organisations and cyber professionals can do to act collectively, prioritise cyber security and build a cyber safe culture.

She was listed as a panellist for The big picture, a panel at the Cyber Summit. The summit, themed Changing Threats, Big Decisions, was held at the Hilton Sydney on Monday 21 September 2026.

Other listed participants on the panel included:

• Abigail Bradshaw, Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate
• John Paitaridis, CEO of CyberCX
• Paul Smith, Technology Editor of The Australian Financial Review

The session brief pointed to two pressures. Artificial intelligence was complicating the protection of critical infrastructure. Separate US and Chinese technology ecosystems were leaving regulators and those focused on sovereign capability with a narrow path to tread.