HireRoad’s Acendre Recruit Achieves PROTECTED Classification Through Independent IRAP Assessment

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, August 17, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- HireRoad today announced that Acendre Recruit, its flagship recruitment platform purpose-built for government, has successfully completed an independent assessment under the Australian Government’s Infosec Registered Assessor Program (IRAP). Aligned with the March 2025 release of the Information Security Manual (ISM), the assessment confirms Acendre Recruit’s suitability to process, store, and transmit PROTECTED-classified information — one of the highest assurance levels recognised by the Commonwealth. The assessment confirms Acendre Recruit’s alignment with stringent Australian Government cyber security standards.

“Cyber security is not a nice-to-have anymore, it is foundational. That’s why we continue to invest beyond compliance, building a secure environment that meets today’s expectations and anticipates tomorrow’s requirements," said Liam Ackland, Managing Director at HireRoad. "While others rely on inherited certifications or vague claims of compliance, Acendre Recruit has undergone a full, independent IRAP assessment across infrastructure, application, and governance layers. Anyone can say they're secure. What matters is being assessed, held to a standard, and actively improving – it’s exactly what government clients expect in today’s cyber climate.”

The IRAP assessment identified multiple areas of security strength within Acendre Recruit’s environment, including:
– ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified information security management system (ISMS)
– A rigorous software development lifecycle (SecDevOps)
– Enforced a zero-trust remote access model with jump hosts and MFA
– Regular penetration testing and proactive governance oversight

“Acendre continues to be the gold standard in supporting Australian public sector hiring needs, and Acendre Recruit’s successful IRAP assessment is the latest milestone in our journey to deliver continued excellence to our customers," said John Baker, Regional CTO Australia at HireRoad. "We're not just checking boxes – our systems and processes are constantly evolving to meet the threat landscape and enable agencies to recruit with confidence.”

While the system has already achieved alignment with PROTECTED classification, HireRoad is actively finalising a set of enhancements through its Plan of Action and Milestones, including:
– Application allowlisting rollout (Airlock Digital)
– Network egress controls
– Centralisation of all logs into SIEM
– Phishing-resistant MFA enforcement for all users
– Legacy system deprecation and patching SLAs
– Essential Eight Maturity Level 2 compliance by September 2025

For clients, this announcement means:
– Verified assurance: Acendre Recruit meets Australian Government standards for PROTECTED data
– Transparency: Full IRAP reports available under NDA
– Continued progress: Active remediation aligned to the Essential Eight and ISM controls

Setting the Standard for Government HR Technology
The Australian Government continues to lift the bar on cyber accountability, not only through evolving frameworks like the ISM and Essential Eight, but also by embedding these expectations into contractual obligations across federal and state procurement.

As one of the most established and trusted providers in the sector, HireRoad addresses these changes through experience, security maturity, and platform configurability. Acendre Recruit has been purpose-built for complex, compliant hiring environments for over two decades. The team has made significant strides in its security roadmap in recent years to ensure it stays ahead of the market and delivers value to customers.

“CIOs are now central to technology selection, and rightly so,” added Ackland. “When systems host sensitive government data, agencies deserve to make decisions based on evidence, not loosely aligned statements of intent. This IRAP milestone provides the independent assurance they need to move forward with confidence.”

For more information about Acendre’s cyber security initiatives or to request details from the IRAP Security Assessment Report, please visit acendre.hireroad.com.

About HireRoad
HireRoad is a leading global provider of HR solutions spanning recruitment, onboarding, learning, and analytics software. Acendre is a HireRoad entity based in Australia, with over 25 years of expertise in recruitment technology for government and other highly regulated organisations. Acendre Recruit is a leading applicant tracking system and trusted partner for Australian government agencies and beyond, providing a comprehensive and configurable process to help organisations recruit and onboard talent efficiently. Visit www.hireroad.com to learn more.

Evan White
Talent Tech PR
+1 509-995-9105
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