The Visa Officer

Australian High Commission

Department of Immigration & Border Protection (DIBP)
New Delhi, India

Subject: Statement of Purpose:

Respected Sir/Madam,

I’m pleased to introduce myself as Satish Thapaliya, permanent resident of Ekta Town 12,
Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal, born on 05 th June 1986 holding the Passport Number 08489962. I
believe that education is the most important asset of a man and one should attempt his best to
acquire it. I always put my endeavors and all out efforts to excel in every walk of my life. This
cultivated my interest to take Biomedical Science and Engineering as my major in my under
graduate and post graduate studies. I am disciplined, hardworking, and responsible and was
always counted as a brilliant student during my student life. I am an active student and I always
enjoyed learning. I have always been an individual who has wanted more. The spirit of
competition excites me and excelling is important to me. I love to learn and challenge myself.
This is what prompted me to apply for the study of Master of Cyber Security in Edith Cowan
University, Sydney, Australia. Besides your busy schedule, representing myself with this
statement of purpose, I have outlined my academic background, interests, my intentions, my
career goals, my future plans and justifications to why I have chosen this particular course,
country, college for my further study. So with due respect, I appreciate your precious time to
review this writing where every justification of my intention is explained at your convenience by
outlining needed topics and reasons why I have chosen Master of Cyber Security in Edith
Cowan University, Sydney, Australia.

Academic Background:

A strong drive to perform and excel enabled me to secure above average scores throughout my
academic period. Regarding my academic qualification, I appeared and passed my SLC (School
Leaving Certificate) exam from Amber Everest English Boarding School of Bharatpur in the year
2003. I scored 66.375% marks in my SLC exam and was placed in first division. I then joined
Orchid Science College for my high school level studies. I met all of the requirements of higher
secondary education board and completed my higher secondary education board exam with
major in biology in the year 2005. I scored 66.60% marks in my higher secondary education
board exam and was placed in first division. After completion of the higher secondary education
I was initially interested to pursue medical science education so I joined medical education
entrance exam course in the following year but I finally joined Bachelor in Biomedical Science in
the year 2006. I completed my Bachelors level course from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal
University, India in the year 2009 with 70.0% marks. I then joined a cancer hospital in my
hometown for six months internship. I was awarded the degree of B.Sc. Medical Lab
Technology (Pathology) by Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Uttarakhand, India
in the year 2010. After the completion of my bachelor, I worked as a volunteer medical lab
technologist in a private hospital in Nepal. I then worked for one year in an outpatient clinic in
Beijing and joined my masters in biomedical Engineering in the year 2011. I completed my
masters from Beijing university of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) with more than 85%
marks and was given A grade. I was awarded the degree of masters in biomedical engineering
by BUAA in the year 2014. After completion of my masters, I worked in a medical device
manufacturing company for more than 2 years. I was working as an international service
engineer in Beijing, China when I realized it would have been even better if I had a degree in
technical course from an English speaking country. After I had a firm determination to get the
degree from an English speaking country, I started to look for different institutes in US, Canada
and Australia that could be best suitable for my academic ambition. I took part in PTE academic
test on 19/08/2017 and scored 79 with each band not less than 70.

Employment History:

After my graduation to till date, I have already worked in three different organizations and my
work experience is more than 4 years. Below given is my work experience profile:

I. Beijing Puhua Outpatient Clinic: I worked in Beijing Puhua Outpatient Clinic in Beijing as
a medical lab technologist for more than 1 year. (From 2010-06-07 to 2011-07-11)
II. Beijing Aeonmed Co. Ltd: I worked as a service engineer in Beijing Aeonmed Co. Ltd.
Beijing for more than 2 years. (From 2014-07-01 to 2016-08-12)
III. Genco Medical: I worked as an international business developer in Genco Medical for
more than 1 year. (From 2016-08-15 to 2017-08-25)

Why not Nepal and Other Countries? Why Australia?

Firstly and fore mostly, our country Nepal is a developing country, it stills lacks proper
superintendence regarding the quality of education that have been provided to the students.
The way of teaching is quite convention and rubric. I have experienced more country education
for nearly 14 years and I have only got speculative education but not functional. On the top
that, there are few colleges and universities in my country that are offering only bachelor
degree in Cyber Security. But, the main program lags behind in giving practical based learning
experience, research fields and specialization in the field of interest. The courses available are
outdated and do not meet the global standard which encompass the latest technology that I
wish to learn. And that’s why I believe that getting a degree from abroad will place me in an
eclipse position in getting good jobs which will help me a lot in acquiring my career. And my
ambitions are clear and immodest I want to attain a proper knowledge in Master of Cyber
Security which is globally recognized.

United State of America is one of the major destinations for international students. I should
have chosen USA as it has tremendous contribution in the field of education but, being an
international student, I should go for safety, affordability, and good living standard. In which
USA is behind than Australia. Literally, the crime rate of USA is high than that of Australia. The
processing for USA is also lengthy as the numbers of colleges ask for GRE so we should prepare
for those tests only than we can apply. So, I preferred not applying US. Besides that, European
countries are another most wanted destination for international students. But the cost of living
is so high. Also language is the foremost problem for most of the international students
studying there. The exchange rate of Australian Dollar in Nepal is equivalent to 83 Nepali
Rupees while that of US dollar and UK pound is very high (1 US dollar equivalent to 102 NRs.
And 1 UK pound is equivalent to around 135 NRs.). The living cost in Australia compared to the
USA, Western Europe, and the UK is quite economical and affordable. The crime rates in
Australia are also low as it has been recorded low in post crime rating. Crime rate is decreasing
year by year like Homicide was decreased by 3.0% and kidnapping was decreased by 7.7% from
2013-2014 AD. Meanwhile, the homicide rate is very high in US compared to Australia. In
general Australia is very safe country to study, visit or reside in.

Regarding study in India, I didn’t apply to any institute over there for this course because of my
previous experience living in India. When I was studying my Bachelor’s level course in a
university in India, I experienced people in India prefer to talk in their own native language
rather than English. In addition to it, bullying by senior students is very common in India. Safety
and security is also an important issue while living and studying in India.

After researching all about the destination country, choosing Australia for my study abroad
destination was not a difficult task for me as it is one of the most popular destination for
international students among English speaking countries. There are several reasons for me to
choose Australia to pursue my Master of Cyber Security. I had completed my master course
from China and even in my home country the degree awarded by Chinese university was not
valid and I had to pass the exam taken by the professional council of Nepal. But, if I get a degree
from Australia, it will be valid not only in my home country but also in almost all of the
countries of world. Furthermore, programs in Australia are developed in consultation with
industry groups and it is focused on graduates’ employability skills. In addition to it, practicum
and networking events are integral to most of the courses offered by Australian institutions.
The degree that I would be awarded from Nepal or China will have limited validity whereas
Australian degree is recognized worldwide. This is the principal reason why I want to get a
degree from Australia.

In Australia, international students like me can expect to study and live in a safe and friendly
environment. It is also one of the best places to study and live. Besides, 4 out of top 10 most
livable cities lie in Australia which is Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Its unique
landscape, favorable climate and diverse culture make it one of the most lovable country and
environment friendly for students also. Being a multicultural country, it allows its new students
to adjust easily and help them in their starting phase of their new student life in Australia. Also,
Australian education ranks in 8th position in whole world. In fact, Australia has good laws and
policies in place protecting overseas students’ access to high quality education. Not only this,
unlike Nepalese education, an Australian education is more research-oriented and practical
which is one of the main reasons that pulled me into applying for it in the first place. It provides
a unique kind of education and a learning style that encourages one to be innovative, creative
and think independently. Moreover, graduates from Australia are very successful in finding jobs
and hold prominent positions worldwide.

We can see Australia have been doing fantastically well in the field of Cyber Security. So why
would I even think of other alternatives? Australia has a great educational system not only to
the national students but also to every international student. It has more than 20,000 courses
across 1100 institution. Moreover, Australia is well known as an astronomical-distinctive in
every field like culture, climate, environment, etc. Studying in Australia will directly leads me to
greater achievement as well as fortifies it by being a part of multi-cultural environment and
highly evolved society.

In Addition to these, Australian government also have ESOS (Education Services for Overseas
students) Act under which all Australian institutes have to provide quality education with
student services and facilities to international students and also TPS (Tuition Protection Services
) which is design to protect the rights of international students with protection of tuition fees
services. Furthermore, Australian Government also provides the facility of PSW (Post Study
Work) for two years after graduation in the related fields which is so beneficial for a newly
graduated student. Finally, Australian education has great value in Nepal. It endeavors me to
survive in competitive environment.

Reasons for choosing Sydney location:

Academic qualification from educational institutions in Sydney is recognized globally helping

the graduates to find a job in almost all country. Sydney is home to many top educational
intuitions, including Macquarie University, the University of New South Wales, the University of
Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney and Western Sydney University. Sydney’s
universities are recognized internationally for academic research. In terms of world rankings,
4 (out of 5) of Sydney’s universities are in Australia’s top 10. Sydney is a favorable destination
for many multinational corporations and companies of all sizes. Additionally, Sydney has been
listed in the top most livable cities in the world for many consecutive years. It is a multicultural
city where thousands of international students come to fulfill their educational ambition.
Studying in such a multicultural environment of Australia’s educational and financial hub will
definitely give me international exposure. Besides, there are some friends of mine who are also
studying in Sydney and a cousin sister of my wife also lives in Sydney. Due to all these reasons, I
consider my student life in Sydney will be sounder compared to other cities in Australia.

Reasons for choosing Edith Cowan University:

It has been quite tough for me to choose a particular university because every university and
institutions are equally highly recognized. I had to work out and do research on various
universities and college that could be a part of my study. I surfed through the internet and
Google, where much information can be collected. Alternatively, I found an interesting website
“www.cricos.education.gov.au” where I got detailed information of the courses with
corresponding providers. It made the process much easier then I filtered lots of universities
according to the ranking, placements, cost and quality. Subsequently, I deducted the number to
five; Western Sydney University, La Trobe University, University of New South Wales, Deakin
University, Queensland University of Technology and Edith Coawn University. Finally, I have
chosen Edith Cowan University for my masters because it is one of the best universities in
Australia with quality education, affordable tuition fee structure than others, flexible study
hour, advanced library, Location, well qualified lecturers etc. I was initially interested to pursue
the degree from Queensland University of technology but its location was far away from my
place of choice in Australia and the fee structure was also a little bit higher.

Being an international student from a developing country, I wish to continue my further study
in an accredited institute with reasonable fee structure and good quality of education. As
courses offered in Edith Cowan University is accredited by various regulatory bodies and it
incorporates practical knowledge required to develop the employable skill of the graduates, I
was attracted to get my degree from this university. Furthermore, the courses offered in Edith
Cowan University are endorsed by the relevant professional bodies also. The courses here
provide the appropriate competency outcomes and satisfactory basis for the assessment and
they meet the national assurance requirements. In addition to this, the trainers at the
university are well connected with the particular fields. Also, they provide job oriented
education.
Reasons for choosing Master in Cyber Security:

My educational background is more related to biomedical science and engineering and it might
sound surprising to someone, why an Engineer who holds a master degree wants to pursue a
course related to cyber security. But, for me the answer is very clear, the way that connectivity
of medical devices to computer networks is increasing has exposed vulnerable devices and
software applications to risks. This issue has not been addressed so well in my home country
but it is of prime importance in developed countries of the western world and within few years,
it will emerge in Nepal as well providing broad career opportunities for people like me.

There are few industries that need strong cyber security as much as the healthcare industry.
Patients are often dealing with life-threatening conditions, exchanging large amounts of money
and financial information, and must have their privacy protected when it comes to medical
records. Yet, healthcare is still one of the biggest targets for cybercriminals. In 2015 alone,
according to IBM, there were over 100 million breaches of medical records. While some
organizations are committed to patient privacy no matter what it takes, most healthcare
organizations are behind in terms of cyber security adoption and advancement. It is obvious to
all that medical devices carry a certain amount of risk. A breach that potentially affects the
safety and effectiveness of a medical device can jeopardize the health and safety of an
individual or patients using the device. The need to protect patient data from cyber-attack is
now well understood. In addition to it, the potential impact on clinical care and patient safety is
raising concerns for healthcare organizations, regulators and medical device manufacturers
alike.

The critical care medical devices are allowed to be marketed by FDA only when there is a
reasonable assurance that the benefits to patients outweigh the risks. While the increasing use
of wireless technology and software in medical devices also increases the risks of potential
cyber security threats, these same features also improve health care and increase the ability of
health care providers to treat patients. Addressing these threats, and thus reducing security
risks, is especially challenging. Because cyber security threats cannot be eliminated completely
and it is therefore the manufacturers, hospitals and facilities must work to manage them. 
There is a serious need to balance protecting patient safety and promoting the development of
innovative technologies and improved device performance.

These days there is an increasing amount of protected health information that is stored on
clouds. If it lacks proper encryption, this can be a weak point for the security of health care
organizations. Other threats in health care security are found in medical devices that I am
pretty much interested in. Some medical devices are linked to internet for e.g. pacemaker and it
has to face same vulnerabilities as other computer systems. To ensure the patient safety, it is
necessary that both the manufacturer and the health care facilities that implants it take
preventive security measures. Furthermore, an increasing amount of health care providers are
using mobile devices at work. It is therefore, encryption and other protective measures are
critical to ensure that the information on this device is secure. It is very necessary to improve
the cyber security in health care by employing the informatics professional who can not only
install and upgrade the software required to run the medical devices but also can protect the
data integrity without any possible breach by cyber criminals.

Course structure:

Year 1 - Semester 1

Unit Code Unit Title

CSG5130 Applied Communications
CSI5122 Computer Security
CSI5212 Network Security Fundamentals
CSG5308 Wireless Security

Year 1 - Semester 2

Unit Code Unit Title

CSG5126 Introductory Computer Forensics
CSP5110 Programming Principles
CSI5133 Information Security
CSI5208 Ethical Hacking and Defence

Year 2 - Semester 1

Unit Code Unit Title

CSI6218 Wireless and Mobile Computing Security
CSI6219 Principles of Project Management
CSG6206 Advanced Scripting Languages

Year 2 - Semester 2

Unit Code Unit Title

CSI6116 Network Security
Year 1 - Semester 1

Unit Code Unit Title

CSG6224 Special Topic 1

Elective Unit 6000 level

Future Plan:

After completion of my masters in Cyber Security, I intend to work abroad for a few years in
multi-national companies and gain international work experience and practical skills. After
working for a few years in health care organizations and bigger multi-national companies, I will
return to my home country because Nepal is a developing country. It is still on the list of least
developed countries. So, Nepal has tremendous opportunities in development. I will try to
improve the technological system of health care facilities. I will work in collaboration with
medical device manufactures and health care providers to increase the accessibility of general
and poor people of Nepal to safer health facilities. I would like to bring new reforms in the
sector of health care with new methodologies and knowledge based practices.

Innovative technology is changing healthcare for the better. Hospitals are experiencing a major
digital transformation with the ever increasing use of connected objects to monitor vital
metrics.  The use of these objects is significantly improving the level of care and is setting new
standards in patient follow-up as illustrated by connected pacemakers. Unfortunately, the
protection levels of the networks that these objects are now connected to often remains
insufficient.  In order to succeed in this digital transition, hospitals and their IT departments
need to significantly improve their cyber-security systems to protect their data as well as that of
their patients.  The need for high scale, modern cyber-security has become increasingly critical
with the emergence of cloud computing, moving sensitive medical/health record information
outside a hospital’s protected environment. However, cyber-security professionals face the
challenge of not only ensuring that patients’ information is safe, but also making this
information easily accessible for clinicians. According to a 2014 survey by the SANS Institute, an
American cyber security firm, 61% of respondents considered medical/health record
information the most at-risk to cyber-criminals. Hackers are always busy improving their
techniques and approaches. They are using creative ways to identify and exploit even the
smallest loopholes in our systems and networks. Healthcare data is greatly rewarding for
hackers. They can sell stolen healthcare data on the black market, use it in frauds, sell it to
foreign agencies, sell patient identity information to other criminals, and use the data in illegal
financial transactions. Given the complex approaches being used by cyber criminals to steal
healthcare information, hospitals and healthcare facilities must have unfailing information
security in place. My aim is to be a Certified Cyber Security Officer. Modern society is becoming
more and more reliant on the use of technology and this has indeed created the demand of
experts in the field of Information and Technology. Having years of experience would obviously
provide me options to join bigger companies. Through my research I saw a lot of scopes in
cyber security sector. Online job sites in Nepal like www.itsecuritynepal.com,
www.ictframe.com, www.bizcommunity.com, www.kumarijobs.com , www.cert.comp.np has
been hiring many Certified Cyber Security Officer. In another website www.merojob.com I
found 43 vacancies relating to Cyber security which was high in comparison to other sectors, in
one of the leading job searching website www.jobsnepal.com I found that the number of
required personnel in system security sector were thrice than in other. So, having Australian
education with me I can compete easily for these jobs.

After completing my study, my future aim is to be consort with hospitals of my own country like
Grande International Hospital, OM Hospital and Reserch Centre Pvt. Ltd., Nepal Police Hospital,
Bir Hospitals, Norvick International Hospital, Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital, Kathmandu
Model Hospital etc. and other jobs related to cyber security that will pay handsome salary of
NRs 75,000- 85,000 per month as a starting salary in my country after the completion of this
course from Australia with other various benefits.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of growth for jobs in information security is
projected at 37% from 2012-2022 that’s much faster than average for all other occupations in
different countries like USA, Australia, Canada, India, Nepal and Europe. Cyber security is
changing at nauseating speed. The most valuable skills for cyber security career in 2021 will not
be a focus in any specific technology, but rather an analytical mindset and problem-solving
focus. I can just anticipate the future scope by looking this emerging evolution of technology.
Hundreds and billions of devices will be smart and data will be collecting, the top hacker will be
hacking all the data (personal as well), I can anticipate that smart robots based criminality and
fight with it will be very challenging, new mal-things arise and much more. So because all these
challenges will be covered by cyber security and its real and artificial heroes, I can just think
about how much scope is there for the cyber security in future and it is the demanding and
highest paid job now and will be more in coming future.

I know that with the help of technology, the health facilities of the country could progress
easily. So, after undertaking this course from Australia and completing it, I will utilize my skills
and knowledge here in my own country to provide support and develop my country’s health
service field. I have realized that in our country there are very few professional and among
them qualified professionals are limited, but the need of professionals is growing day by day
so having Australian education with me, I can compete easily for these jobs.

Financial Background:

I am from a joint family and members in my family include my father, mother, elder brother,
sister in law, me and my wife. My father’s name is Dambar Raj Thapaliya and he is a retired
section officer of the Bharatpur municipality office Nepal Government and after his retirement,
he invested part of his retirement fund in a business where he now works as a marketing
executive. My mother’s name is Bishnu Maya Thapaliya who is a social worker and children’s
right activist. My brother’s name is Mahesh Thapaliya and he is an engineer. My sister in law is
an MBA student and her name is Kritima Kharel Thapaliya. My wife’s name is Sujana Pokharel
and she is an accountant. We were married according to traditional Hindu custom on 2 nd
February 2016.

I have been blessed to have parents who instilled me with good values and principles. They
have supported me in accomplishing the goals I have set forth. I am highly inspired by my
parent’s hard work and selfless dedication. My education is being sponsored by my parents. My
family is financially strong enough to afford my education fund and other expenses. They have
mortgaged land for bank loan to spend for my higher studies. So I will manage my cost from the
support of my family. My father has a house given to rent and the tenant pays AUD 7500
annually. My father in law is a professor in college and he earns AUD 6000 per year. My brother
is an employee of Banner Electric Co. Ltd in Beijing China and he earns AUD 15000 per year.
This makes AUD 35000 income per year of my family. My parents are well known of all the
necessary charges and fees required to study in Australia. Hence, I will not have any financial
problems during my study period in Australia. Honestly, they too believe that the investment
on education never goes waste because education itself is the foundation of development of
one's life, personality, society and country as a whole. So they are anytime ready to invest their
saving & property on my study.

Incentive to Return Back to Home Country:

As mentioned above after the completion of this course from Australia and being a responsible
youth, I look forward to return to my own country. I am an authentic temporary recruit and
mean to come to Australia with the main motive of academic purpose, and have the
communication, educational capability and financial structure to manage and successfully
complete my post graduation. I would like to serve my fellow citizens with the help of
knowledge and skills that I will acquire from Australia to protect my country in terms of cyber
attack. Besides that, all my family members are here and also I will have to look after my family
and properties. My parents are my biggest heroes and they have supported me in each and
every steps of my life and I also have responsibilities towards my in-laws. So I cannot run away
from responsibilities as I have to take care of them in their old age. My full emotions,
sentiments always lie for my family, friends and hometown where I have passed beautiful
unforgettable moments of my life. So, I would like to declare that I have no intension to stay in
Australia more than my study period.

Reasons for going Australia with my wife:

My wife’s name is Mrs. Sujana Pokharel, daughter of Mr. Megha Nath Pokharel and Mrs. Apsara
Pokharel. She is a permanent resident of Lokanthali-16, Bhaktapur. Living in a strange and new
place will not be easy and like one expect it to be. After going through a hardship and mental
breakdown in new environment of China, this time I wish my wife to accompany me to support
me while I adjust in new environment and she has agreed to do so. My wife has always been
supportive to me and always motivates me to be a successful person. For me, she is a source of
support and inspiration. If I am accompanied by her, my stay in Australia will be sweet and filled
with love. I am very thankful for both of my family to always encouraging and supporting in my
decision of pursuing an international education.

Visa Conditions:

I am aware about the visa condition and about the living expenses of international students in
Australia. Moreover, I also have full information about certain obligation for the international
students. My visa class will be Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF) subclass 500. I
understood all the visa conditions of this sub class. Consequently, I am committed to
accomplish the course with full dedication and sincerity in stipulated time, maintain 80%
attendance, health insurance, as well as conscious about further stay restricted condition and
financial capacity. I am familiar with all sorts of expenses during my two years of stay in
Australia.

In Conclusion:

Lastly, I feel a formal education from your country university will equip me with more practical
and theoretical knowledge in the field of Cyber Security. It will enable me to learn with people
from diverse backgrounds, create network in Cyber Security world, work under pressure, meet
deadlines, resourcefulness and fill my knowledge gaps. I find Cyber Security Avenue exciting; it
is ever growing and ever challenging.

I would like to comfort you that I am intimate with visa condition of Australia. I have fully hoped
that Edith Cowan University admission will provide me a precious opportunity to make my
dream come true through study of my desired courses in it.
I believe the success of our visa would bring a burst of happiness and bring renaissance in our
life to take up new momentum and new mode in our life.

I solemnly declare all the information provided by me in this statement of purpose is genuine
and correct in every aspect and my sole purpose of visiting Australia is to gain Higher Education.
After that, I will return back to my homeland and will look for some competitive job and follow
my dream of being professional Certified Cyber Security Officer. I will be grateful if provided
with opportunity to pursue my Higher Education in Australia. I am fully aware that false or
misleading information shall lead to the cancellation of my student visa application.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward hearing positive response which will
be crucial for shaping my future career goals.

Yours Sincerely

Satish Thapaliya

Applicant for Student Visa (Subclass 500)