Bendigo security startup SecureCore lands contracts as local employers scramble for tech talent

When Telstra's nationwide outage knocked out payments and communications for 10 million customers last week, the phones at SecureCore didn't stop ringing. The Bendigo-based cybersecurity firm, founded by former Coliban Water IT manager Matt Gibbons in 2022, has doubled its headcount to 30 staff in 18 months and is now fielding inquiries from Melbourne firms worried about their own tech resilience.

The timing is no coincidence. With Australia's unemployment rate stuck at 3.9 percent and the Reserve Bank keeping the cash rate at 4.35 percent, Bendigo's employers are fighting for workers. The city's jobless rate, at 4.1 percent according to the latest Department of Employment data from May, is slightly below the national average, but the squeeze is real: local hospitality venues such as The Bridge Hotel on Mitchell Street and Waranga Wines have been advertising for months without filling shifts.

How SecureCore broke the recruitment mould

Gibbons, 44, isn't competing for Melbourne talent. He's hiring from Bendigo TAFE's Certificate IV in Cybersecurity program and offering equity. New starters get a share pool worth about 5 percent of the company, vested over four years. The starting salary for a junior security analyst is $75,000 a year, modest by city standards, but above the Bendigo median wage of $68,000. SecureCore's office, a converted warehouse on Garsed Street, near the old railway station, now runs two shifts to cover round-the-clock network monitoring for clients including Bendigo Health and the City of Greater Bendigo.

“We can't afford to lose staff to Melbourne, so we don't try to hire from Melbourne,” Gibbons told The Daily Bendigo last week. “We train people here, pay them a living wage, give them a stake, and they stay because their families are here.”

The strategy is working. Turnover rate at SecureCore is 7 percent, compared with the national IT industry average of 22 percent, according to recruitment firm Robert Half's 2025-26 Salary Guide. The company has also absorbed three workers displaced when the Bendigo Bank call centre on Barnard Street cut 40 roles in March through a restructure.

Data that tells a bigger story

SecureCore's growth mirrors a broader shift in the Bendigo economy. The city's labour force has expanded by 2,300 people over the past year, to 86,500, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. But nearly half of new jobs have been in health care and social assistance, sectors that pay an average of $72,000, compared with $95,000 in cybersecurity. Bendigo's technology sector now employs about 1,400 people, up from 900 in 2021, per Regional Development Victoria. The gap between available tech roles and qualified local candidates is about 200 positions, according to the Bendigo Tech Network's June report.

Gibbons is trying to close that gap one hire at a time. He's been a guest lecturer at Bendigo TAFE since February, speaking to about 40 students per semester. Two of his current employees, Grace Tran and James Hendry, are former students. Tran, 23, started as a junior analyst in October and now trains new recruits on SecureCore's proprietary threat-detection software.

The company's next challenge is scale. SecureCore has outgrown its Garsed Street space and is looking at a site in the Bendigo Agricultural Showgrounds precinct, where the council is planning a technology hub. The lease on that site would cost about $4,500 a month, plus fit-out costs of $120,000. Gibbons is applying for a $50,000 grant from the Victorian Government's Regional Jobs Fund, which has backed 14 Bendigo businesses since 2023.