Case Study: South Australia Department for Education secures statewide school connectivity with Palo Alto Networks

South Australia Department for Education connects 99.6% of schools to safe internet with Palo Alto Networks

The South Australia Department for Education sought to securely connect its public schools and preschools to high-speed internet, aiming to improve educational outcomes while protecting over 180,000 students and 30,000 staff from cyberthreats and harmful online content. Their challenge was to deploy a statewide security layer that could provide protection and visibility without requiring technical support at individual schools.

Palo Alto Networks, in partnership with Telstra Purple, implemented a solution including Next-Generation Firewalls, Cortex XDR, Data Lake, and Cloud-Delivered Security Services. This provided a secure grounding for the new infrastructure. The results included 99.6% of schools being connected to safe internet, increased visibility into student online activity, and the ability to gain SOC-level threat visibility without needing to expand their security team. Palo Alto Networks enabled a powerful, safe, and secure learning environment for students across the state.