Case Study: South Australian Department for Education achieves state-wide secure connectivity and safer online learning with Palo Alto Networks

South Australia’s Department for Education connects schools securely with Palo Alto Networks

South Australia’s Department for Education, which serves more than 180,000 students and 30,000 staff, set out to expand reliable high‑speed internet to nearly every public school while also protecting students and teachers from harmful content, cyberbullying, and cyberthreats. In 2017 only about 7% of schools had reliable high‑speed connections, so the department adopted a two‑phase plan: statewide fibre roll‑out followed by a centralized security layer that didn’t require technical staff at each site.

Working with Palo Alto Networks and Telstra Purple, the department deployed Next‑Generation Firewalls, cloud‑delivered security services (URL filtering, threat prevention, DNS security, VPN, WildFire), Cortex XDR, centralized management appliances and Saasyan student‑safety controls. The program delivered fast, secure connectivity to at least 99.6% of schools, voluntary adoption across 870+ sites, statewide visibility and proactive incident response comparable to a SOC without added headcount, and safer online learning both in school and at home.

The South Australian Department for Education

Scott Bayliss

Chief Information Officer