Robert Luke Deakin is an Australian social entrepreneur and cyber security expert, born in

Nambour, Queensland Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people. Geography Nambour is north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub ...

, in 1966. He is the chairman of the Humble Enterprise Foundation charity and a director of Social Builders Pty Ltd, a Melbourne-based

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

, which focuses on children at risk of social isolation, particularly children diagnosed with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

spectrum disorders (ASD). He also provides advice to selected organisations on national cyber security, particularly in the area of critical infrastructure protection, economic information warfare and development of the Australian Cyber Security Workforce.

Social enterprise

Deakin has identified specific ways that children with ASD are attracted to certain types of

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

, in particular the systematic nature of construction systems such as

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

. In 2011, he hired space at the

Abbotsford Convent The Abbotsford Convent is located in Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river a ...

and started running Brick Clubs. These clubs provided families affected by autism with an opportunity for children to meet and share their interest in the Lego system and afforded respite for families. Deakin used his knowledge of construction play to improve social interaction and communication among children who have social difficulties. In particular, the Brick Clubs use social play strategies to reinforce appropriate behaviours, improve interaction and enhance the communication between children. In 2012, Deakin was awarded a

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

, which allowed him to visit Singapore, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Denmark to learn about establishing national programmes to assist young children with autism to overcome social isolation and to help build friendships. Deakin is an alumnus of "The Crunch", one of Australia's most highly respected and rigorous social enterprise start-up programs run by social traders with the

Melbourne Business School Melbourne Business School (MBS) is the graduate business school of the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The School offers an MBA program, specialist Masters programs, a doctoral program, and executive education programs. The MBS Head ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Brick Club was scaled up after completion of the Crunch Program with the establishment of a permanent studio in Fairfield, Victoria. The number of sessions available to families was increased at the studio and broader advocacy of the need for social opportunities also increased. Deakin has provided support and advocacy to many local communities to establish their own local Brick Club operations. The growth of Brick Clubs has been funded entirely through the social enterprise activities. The enterprise raises funds from large-scale public events, school programmes and other activities that focus science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), especially Lego Model Exhibitions, Lego Serious Play, robotics, 3D printing, children's coding and ''Minecraft'' games.

Education

Deakin attended Caloundra Primary School, boarded at

Marist College Ashgrove , motto_translation = Act Courageously , location = Ashgrove, Brisbane, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Queensland , pushpin_ima ...

Secondary College in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

where he completed his Secondary Certificate in 1983. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business in information management in 1990 from the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

and a Graduate Certificate of IT in data security in 1993 from the Information Security Research Centre. He studied under Emeritus Professor William Caelli and completed a Master of Information Technology by research in 2003 on the concept of " Economic Information Warfare : Analysis of the relationship between the protection of Financial Information Infrastructure and Australia's National Security".

Career

Deakin's professional background is not in disability or education. His career was centred around emerging threats from dependence on technology. In the early 1980s, he focused on computer viruses and then the impact of distributed computing on business. He later specialised in national critical infrastructure protection, particularly protection of banking systems. He represented the Australian Bankers Association on the Business-Government Task Force on Critical Infrastructure Protection. He held various security roles as an independent security consultant and worked for the Attorney General's Department (Queensland), the National Australia Bank, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Telstra, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia) and the Departmentt of Home Affairs (Australia).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deakin, Robert Luke Australian businesspeople Living people 1966 births Queensland University of Technology alumni