Case Study: South Australian Department for Education achieves secure, statewide high‑speed connectivity for 950+ schools 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, needed to bring reliable, high‑speed internet and safe online learning to hundreds of schools that previously lacked connectivity. Starting from only about 7% of schools with dependable broadband, the department launched a two‑phase program to roll out fibre to 950+ sites and implement a centrally managed security layer to protect students and staff from inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and other cyberthreats without requiring technical teams at every school.

The department selected Palo Alto Networks with partner Telstra Purple to deploy Next‑Generation Firewalls, cloud‑delivered services (URL filtering, threat prevention, DNS security, GlobalProtect VPN, WildFire), Cortex XDR, M‑series management appliances and Saasyan Assure for student safety. The rollout delivered at least 99.6% high‑speed connectivity, voluntary adoption across 870+ schools, statewide visibility into incidents and SOC‑level threat monitoring without extra hires, and safer, more engaged online learning both at school and on school‑issued devices at home.

South Australian Department for Education

Scott Bayliss

CIO, Department for Education