The State of Trust Report: Australia

We surveyed 500 business and IT leaders across Australia. One big change? They’re falling behind AI risks—and spending way more time and energy proving trust than building it. 

Read the full report
Cover page titled 'The State of Trust: Australia' by Vanta, third edition, with colorful abstract circular design on a dark purple background.Infographic titled 'Trust in the age of AI' presenting risks, AI adoption gaps, rising trust pressure, manual proof workload, and AI automation benefits with statistics and charts.Page titled 'Risks are rising, but budgets aren't budging' highlighting that 71% of security decision-makers say risk has never been higher, with text on increasing cybersecurity threats and a donut chart comparing 71% in 2025 to 58% in 2024.
65%
spend more time posturing than protecting
60%
say AI risks outpace their expertise
95%
of adopters say AI is making their security teams more effective

Security frameworks
—or security theatre?

Trust can make or break a business. But without continuous, automated trust management focused on real security outcomes, today’s security frameworks feel more like performative box checking than true protection.

65%
of security teams are posturing more than protecting

Knowledge gaps 
= security gaps

AI-driven attacks are getting bigger, faster, and more sophisticated—making risk much more difficult to contain. Without automation to respond quickly to AI threats, teams are forced to react without a plan in place.

6 out of 10
say AI risks now outpace their own expertise

AI doom to AI boom

Though they bring new risks, AI and automation are also making teams much more effective—and much less burned out. In fact, over a third (47%) of the leaders we talked to credited it with giving them more time for strategic, high-level security work.

95%
say AI makes their team more effective

See how your team stacks up—read the full report here.