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Security report for homeaffairs.gov.au

Department of Home Affairs · Government · Australia

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The Department of Home Affairs website serves as the official digital presence for Australia's federal government agency responsible for immigration, national security, border protection, and related public services. The site provides comprehensive information and services to Australian residents, immigrants, travelers, and businesses, positioning itself as a critical government resource. The content is well-organized, professionally presented, and includes links to subsidiary agencies and partner sites, reinforcing its authoritative role. Technically, the website is built on Microsoft SharePoint, leveraging modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks, Google Tag Manager, and Qualtrics for analytics and user feedback. The site demonstrates good performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility features, supporting a broad user base. Security is robust with HTTPS enforcement, multi-factor authentication for user accounts, and secure form handling, though there is room for improvement in public security policy disclosures and vulnerability reporting. The security posture is strong, with appropriate security headers and no detected vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies, including GDPR considerations. The domain is a legitimate Australian government domain with WHOIS data managed by the .au domain administrator, consistent with government domain registration practices. Overall, the website is a trustworthy, professional, and secure government portal. Strategic recommendations include enhancing incident response visibility, publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy, and continuous monitoring of third-party scripts to maintain security integrity.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching homeaffairs.gov.au

This scan found 16 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
85
Security headers
65
Email security
83
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
79

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention homeaffairs.gov.au, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
8,611
Employees
0
Customers
8,510
Third parties
101
Weak passwords
7%

31 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for homeaffairs.gov.au.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The Department of Home Affairs holds a central position in Australia's government infrastructure, managing critical sectors such as immigration, national security, and emergency management. Its business model is service-oriented, focusing on regulatory compliance, public safety, and community engagement. The agency benefits from strong partnerships with subsidiary agencies like the Australian Border Force and the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre, creating a comprehensive security and immigration ecosystem. The website reflects a mature digital presence with extensive content, indicating a large-scale operation with enterprise-level resources. The inclusion of multiple official domains and social media channels supports broad stakeholder engagement and transparency.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, multi-factor authentication for key services, and comprehensive security headers. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. However, the absence of a public vulnerability disclosure policy and limited incident response contact information suggest areas for improvement in transparency and readiness. The use of third-party analytics and tracking is controlled via Google Tag Manager and Qualtrics, with privacy policies addressing data protection. Overall, the security culture appears strong, aligned with government standards, but could benefit from enhanced public communication on security practices.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a clear and accessible vulnerability disclosure policy to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  2. Enhance visibility and accessibility of incident response contact channels for security concerns.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and analytics tools to mitigate potential security risks.
  4. Consider publishing adherence to recognized security frameworks such as ISO 27001 or NIST to boost trust.
  5. Maintain and improve mobile optimization and accessibility to ensure inclusive user experience.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Department of Home Affairs
Description
Home Affairs brings together Australia's federal law enforcement, national and transport security, criminal justice, emergency management, multicultural affairs, settlement services and immigration and border-related functions, working together to keep Australia safe.
Key services
Immigration and citizenship services, Border protection and travel security, National security coordination, Emergency management, Multicultural affairs, Settlement services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Microsoft SharePoint, JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Qualtrics, jQuery
Frameworks
SharePoint CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) implemented for ImmiAccount
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for controlled script loading
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with anti-CSRF tokens

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Qualtrics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Qualtrics, Monsido
Marketing tools
Qualtrics
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a government portal for Australia's Department of Home Affairs.
  2. Content is comprehensive, well-structured, and professionally presented.
  3. Multiple official government agency links and logos are present.
  4. Security practices include HTTPS, MFA for user accounts, and secure forms.
  5. No WHOIS registrant details due to .gov.au domain policies, but domain is legitimate.
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools is evident.
  8. Privacy and cookie policies are clearly stated and accessible.
  9. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected; full content accessible.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Microsoft SharePoint, a robust enterprise content management system, indicating a stable and scalable infrastructure. The use of modern JavaScript libraries, Google Tag Manager, and Qualtrics demonstrates a commitment to user engagement and analytics-driven improvements. Performance is moderate, with good mobile responsiveness and accessibility features. The site employs secure form handling with anti-CSRF tokens and maintains strong SSL/TLS configurations. Opportunities exist to modernize further by reducing reliance on legacy SharePoint scripts and enhancing front-end performance optimizations.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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