Macquarie Telecom won five-year outsourcing contracts to provide 12 Australian federal agencies with Internet services. The agencies include the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Fair Work Australia.

The deal, which would provide the 12 institutions with virus- and hacker-free Internet service, is expected to save the government millions of dollars. It is part of the federal government's plan to reduce the number of Internet gateways to just eight from the current 124, said Macquarie Telecom Managing Director Aidan Tudehope.

Because of the contract, Macquarie Telecom upgraded its capital expenditure guidance for financial year 2013 by $14 million to $48 million.

All Internet feeds for the 12 agencies will pass through Macquarie Telecom's new data centre in Sydney for checking and filtering before the data is sent to computers and email systems of the agencies, which includes the sub-agencies of the DAFF.

"Government agencies have a sizeable number of Internet connections and they need to protect themselves from cyber attacks that come down the Internet pipe into their agencies. We're providing clean Internet so we're making sure malicious attacks and viruses do not enter," The Australian Financial Review quoted Mr Tudehope.

The services include ensuring no data leakage through the Internet from the agencies.

Besides the DAFF and FWA, the other agencies that are included in the Macquarie Telecom contracts are: The Australian Antarctic Division; the Australian Bureau of Meteorology; the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority; the Department of Innovation Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education; the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism; the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism; the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Population & Communities; Geoscience Australia; the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority; and Wheat Exports Australia.

"Cybersecurity is a key priority for all lead agencies as we seek to consolidate the Internet gateways upon which nearly every government body relies to communicate securely with the Australian public," DAFF Chief Information Officer Graham Gathercole said in a statement.

"This is a clear milestone not only for us but also for the government. The federal government has been working on reducing the number of its Internet gateways for a number of years and this will help reduce the risks of cyber attacks against it," Mt Tudehope added.

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