Experts called in as Geelong’s Meli hit by cyber attack

One of Geelong’s biggest employers appears to have been targeted in a cyber incident.

Meli Family Safety and Therapeutic Services director Lisa Robinson and Geelong Community Foundation chief executive officer Gail Rodgers. Picture: Alison Wynd

A Geelong support service provider is investigating an apparent cyber attack that hit the organisation on Friday.

The incident came just before the global technology outage that affected services, shops and transport across Geelong.

Meli, formally Barwon Child, Youth & Family (BCYF) and the Bethany Group, was forced to work through a cyber incident that sent a number of their services offline.

A Meli spokesperson confirmed they were investigating.

“As soon as we detected the incident, we took steps to secure our system,” they said.

“We have also partnered with leading forensic specialists and cybersecurity advisers to investigate what has happened.

“The investigation is ongoing, and will determine if further action is required.”

The spokesperson said “our important work supporting clients and the community remains our upmost priority”.

“We will keep our community informed, in accordance with our commitment to communicating with transparency and with integrity.

“We thank our funders for their ongoing support and together we will continue our important role of supporting people and strengthening communities.”

According to its website, Meli is one of the region’s largest employers with a combined workforce of more than 750 staff.

Meli is the Barwon region’s largest provider of kindergartens and vital community support services including foster and kinship care, family services, family violence services for women, men and children, school engagement, youth justice, mental health, drug and alcohol services, homelessness support, family and relationship counselling, financial counselling, Gambler’s Help, emergency relief and NDIS services.

Friday’s broader tech outage caused chaos and confusion across the Geelong, stopping flights and public transport, hitting multiple shops and banks, leaving customers unable to pay and forcing some businesses to close.

Across the country flights were grounded and many businesses were reporting the “blue screen of death” as computers failed.

Media organisations and airlines were among the worst affected.

Originally published as Experts called in as Geelong’s Meli hit by cyber attack