Australia’s top cybersecurity leaders and their teams have been recognised at this year’s CSO30 Awards.

Held in conjunction with the CIO50, the CSO30 Australia Awards is aligned to Foundry’s global awards program and celebrates the leading individuals and organisations delivering cybersecurity initiatives that have changed the way the business is protected.

Along with their cybersecurity initiatives, nominees were also evaluated based on how they collaborated with and influenced their stakeholders to improve cybersecurity and resilience within the enterprise. Judges also assessed their contribution to the wider cybersecurity community beyond their organisations.

At the gala CSO30 celebration event held in Sydney last week, two individuals were recognised with Business Value and Leadership awards for demonstrating outstanding leadership and business value in cybersecurity.

In the Business Value category, Shaun Martin of Aware Super took out the top award. Martin was recognised for his outstanding contributions as a CISO at his organisation. Through a proactive, intelligence-led approach, Shaun has delivered measurable organisational value while protecting the retirement savings of Aware’s 1.1 million Australian members, many of whom are the carers of our society, including nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics.

Keyur Lavingia from Village Roadshow was highly commended by the judges in this category. Since joining Village Roadshow, Lavingia has delivered an integrated cybersecurity transformation that has fundamentally strengthened Village’s operational resilience, compliance maturity and risk posture

In the Leadership category, Manasseh Paradesi, formerly of Tyro Payments, took out top place. Paradesi was recognised for his internal and external stakeholder engagement Recognising organisational resilience depends on sustainable expertise, implemented comprehensive
mentoring programs internally and across the broader industry,

Joss Howard of Scyne Advisory, was also highly commended in this category. During a time of major organisational transformation, Howard built the cyber team from the ground up, prioritising diversity, capability uplift, and sustainable career pathways.

Meanwhile, an emerging cybersecurity leader was recognised with the 2025 Next CISO Award. Duné Sookloll, Cyber & Information Security Officer at Horizon Power, was the winner of this award. Jumar Pando, Cyber Security Operations Manager at Emeis Cosmetics Pty Ltd (Aesop) was also a finalist in this category.Held in conjunction with the CIO50, the CSO30 Australia Awards form part of Foundry’s global awards program, celebrating the individuals and organisations delivering cybersecurity initiatives that have reshaped how businesses are protected.

Nominees were evaluated not only on their initiatives, but also on how they collaborated with and influenced stakeholders to strengthen cybersecurity and resilience within their enterprises. Judges also considered their contributions to the wider cybersecurity community.

At the gala CSO30 celebration in Sydney last week, two individuals were recognised with Business Value and Leadership awards for outstanding contributions to cybersecurity.

In the Business Value category, Shaun Martin of Aware Super claimed the top award. Martin was recognised for his proactive, intelligence-led approach as CISO, which has delivered measurable organisational value while protecting the retirement savings of Aware’s members – including many of society’s carers such as nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics.

Keyur Lavingia of Village Roadshow was highly commended in this category. Since joining the organisation, Lavingia has led an integrated cybersecurity transformation that has significantly strengthened operational resilience, compliance maturity, and risk posture.

In the Leadership category, Manasseh Paradesi, formerly of Tyro Payments, took the top honour. Recognising that organisational resilience depends on sustainable expertise, Paradesi championed stakeholder engagement and implemented comprehensive mentoring programs both internally and across the broader industry.

Joss Howard of Scyne Advisory was highly commended in this category. During a period of major organisational transformation, Howard built the cyber team from the ground up, with a focus on diversity, capability uplift, and sustainable career pathways.

Meanwhile, an emerging leader was recognised with the 2025 Next CISO Award. Duné Sookloll, Cyber & Information Security Officer at Horizon Power, won this year’s award, with Jumar Pando, Cyber Security Operations Manager at Emeis Cosmetics Pty Ltd (Aesop), also named as a finalist.

CSO30 Australia Awards 2025 honourees (in alphabetical order)*:

• Hani Arab, Chief Information Officer, Seymour Whyte
• Sameera Bandara, General Manager Cybersecurity – APAC,Programmed and PERSOL
• Gary Barnden, IT Security Manager, Pacific National
• Nick Bellette Director – Information Security and Risk, Custom Fleet
• David Buerckner, Chief Information Security and Risk Officer, Probe Group
• James Court, Chief Security Officer, Cleanaway
• David Geber, General Manager Information Security & Risk, Rest
• Joel Earnshaw, Senior Manager – Cyber Security, Perenti
• Chris Grisdale, Head of Information Security, hipages Group
• Daryll Holland, Head of Technology and Information Security, Alii Technology Group
• Andrew Hottes, Chief Digital Information Officer, Cranbrook School
• Jocelyn (Joss) Howard, Chief Information Security Officer, Scyne Advisory
• Bob Kombora, Head of IT Operations, Vulcan Steel
• Shane Laffin, Group Chief Information Officer, Dulux Group
• Keyur Lavingia, Head of Security, Village Roadshow
• Chris Mace, Chief Technology Officer, NSW Nurses & Midwives Association
• Shaun Martin, Head of Information Security, Aware Super
• Dan Maslin, Group Chief Information Security Officer, Monash University
• Nathan Morelli, Head of Cyber Security and IT Resilience, SA Power Networks
• Christopher Neal, Group Chief Information Officer, Ramsay Health Care
• Nicole Neil, Head of Information Security, Fresh Clinics
• Laura O’Neill, Head of Advisory & AssuranceFujitsu Australia Limited
• Manasseh Paradesi, former Chief Information Security Officer, Tyro Payments
• Maria Paz, Chief Technology Officer, Epworth Health
• Moet Sela, Technology and Cloud Services Manager, Catholic Healthcare
• Scott Sorley, Chief Information Officer, University of Southern Queensland
• Sandeep Taileng, Information Security Leader, State Trustees Victoria
• Noel Toal, former Chief Information Officer, DPV Health
• Wouter Veugelen, Head of Cybersecurity – Australia, FTI Consulting
• Indika Wimalasiri, Chief Information Security Officer Praemium
• Leron Zinatullin, Chief Information Security Officer, Linkly