AusCERT is Australia's national computer emergency response team. AusCERT provides a coordination role for handling computer security incidents between affected parties for the benefit of Australian networks. AusCERT is recognised throughout the world for its computer security expertise; its work to raise awareness of computer security issues and its strong focus in the Asia-Pacific region.

AusCERT, which began operations in 1992, is an independent and not-for-profit organisation based within The University of Queensland, Australia. AusCERT covers its operating costs through membership fees and the provision of affordable computer security training and education. The Commonwealth government provides funding for certain parts of AusCERT's operations.

AusCERT members include industry bodies, business enterprises, universities and government agencies from Australia and New Zealand.

As a full member of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), an international organisation of some 100 computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs) worldwide, AusCERT has helped set up national and regional CSIRTs in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region and maintains close ties with them.

AusCERT's main functions include:

• incident handling on behalf of member organisations and Australian networks. The National IT Incident Reporting Scheme provides a mechanism to report computer security incidents to AusCERT securely;
• monitoring and reporting about computer network threats and vulnerabilities through AusCERT security bulletins and other publications;
• providing training and education in computer security and incident handling and response; and
• providing consultancy services to assist organisations establish their own computer security incident response teams.

Further information about AusCERT services can be found here.