Acumenis

Acumenis is an Australian-owned cyber security consultancy operating since 2017, with team members based in Brisbane and Toowoomba. The firm holds CREST (International) accreditation for penetration testing across Australasia and is itself ISO 27001 certified, positioning it to advise organisations on the same standards it operates under internally.

Work spans governance, risk and compliance advisory alongside technical assessment. On the GRC side, Acumenis handles ISO 27001 implementation and internal audits, ISO 42001 implementation, Essential Eight assessments, and AI governance framework development. Technical services cover penetration testing and vulnerability assessments, while incident response work includes planning, retainers, and tabletop exercises designed to test how an organisation responds under pressure rather than just document a plan.

The consultancy is led by Andy Dowling, Founder and Managing Director, who also serves as Principal Security Consultant, with Ian Esplin as Assurance Lead and JP Haywood as Advisory Lead and Senior Security Consultant. This structure splits audit and assurance work from advisory and technical consulting, reflecting the dual focus on compliance frameworks like ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 and on hands-on testing and incident readiness. The inclusion of AI governance framework work alongside established standards such as Essential Eight suggests a practice extending traditional GRC and penetration testing services into newer areas of risk as clients adopt AI systems that need their own oversight structures.