Unicorn IT
Council IT
Essential Eight aligned · Built for local government
Unicorn IT Group's managed IT, cyber security and cloud services — tailored for Australian councils. Audit-ready governance, predictable per-user pricing and local humans who answer the phone.
$229
per user, per month — everything included
<15 min
average help desk response time
24/7
Security Operations Centre monitoring
100%
Australian data residency & support
Why councils choose us
One fixed per-user price covers support, security, licensing and backup. No surprise invoices, no hourly rate shocks — a budget line your CFO can lock in for the year.
One number to call, one portal, one monthly report. Staff get friendly human help fast; leadership gets a single dashboard of everything that matters.
Clear scopes of work, transparent pricing and documentation that fits local government procurement and tender requirements — including panel arrangements.
Services
The same proven services Unicorn IT Group delivers to Australian businesses — scoped, documented and reported the way local government needs.
Fully managed IT, unlimited friendly support and fast local help for every person and device — from the front counter to the works depot.
Essential Eight aligned protection, MFA, endpoint and email security, plus 24/7 detection and investigation across council identities, devices, networks and cloud services.
Incident containment and recovery backed by gap assessments, remediation plans and evidence packs for Essential Eight, SMB 1001, ISO 27001 and NIST CSF 2.0.
Firewalls, switching, Wi-Fi, private networks, NBN and business fibre designed and managed across offices, libraries, depots and remote sites.
Microsoft 365 and Azure migrations, licensing, identity and immutable recovery for Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, servers and files.
Proactive server support, secure storage, off-site backups, restore testing and disaster recovery planning for critical council systems.
Jamf and Intune management for mixed fleets, plus hardware and software procurement, imaging, asset registers and secure disposal.
Reliable council telephony, Teams calling and collaboration tools configured for chambers, service counters, offices and mobile teams.
Print fleet audits, secure follow-me printing, proactive maintenance and automatic toner replenishment with clear usage reporting.
IP cameras, mobile monitoring and secure door access for council facilities, with permissions and retention configured to policy.
Structured cabling, office technology fit-outs and safe public wireless for libraries, community facilities and civic spaces.
Technology roadmaps, virtual CIO guidance, vendor management, web and DNS hosting, password management and security awareness training.
Governance & security
Councils answer to auditors, insurers, the Ombudsman and the community. Every service we deliver comes with the documentation and reporting to prove it's being done properly.
Quarterly governance reports written for councillors and audit committees — patch compliance, security posture, spend and risk in plain English.
We implement, measure and report against the ACSC Essential Eight maturity model, so your next audit or cyber insurance renewal is a formality.
Systems and processes that respect the Privacy Act, state records legislation and your information management obligations — retention, access and disposal handled properly.
Role-based access, joiner/mover/leaver processes and privileged access management — so the right staff see the right data, and you can prove it.
Pricing
Break-fix IT means unpredictable bills and under-protected systems. Our council plan is Unicorn IT Group's Gold Managed Services plan — the complete-protection tier with a single per-user monthly rate covering support, security, licensing, backup and governance.
A 60-user council pays $13,740 per month — a single, predictable budget line that your CFO can lock in and your audit committee can interrogate.
Council Plan — Gold
Unicorn IT Group's complete-protection tier — the same price as every Gold client. No council surcharge, no lock-in tricks, no hidden project fees for the essentials.
Onboarding and migration projects quoted separately, fixed price, approved up front.
FAQ
Yes. Many councils keep a small internal team and use us for 24/7 monitoring, security, projects and overflow support. We co-manage happily — your team keeps control, we carry the load.
It's a fixed $229 per user, per month (ex GST) on the Gold plan. A 60-user council pays $13,740 per month — covering support, security, Microsoft 365 licensing, backup, 24/7 MDR and governance with no surprise bills. Multi-site and depot staff are priced the same way.
Yes. We provide clear scopes of work, insurance certificates, security documentation and references, and we're experienced with tender processes and panel arrangements.
Your data stays in Australia in Microsoft 365 and Azure, with retention, backup and disposal configured to meet state records legislation and the Privacy Act. You own your data — always.
No lock-in tricks. Agreements are standard fixed-term service agreements with clear exit provisions — your Microsoft 365 tenant, data and licences stay yours if you ever move on.
A structured, fixed-price migration: discovery, asset and licence review, security baseline, then a staged cut-over scheduled around council quiet periods — typically 4–8 weeks depending on environment. You'll get a written project plan up front, approved before anything changes.
Help desk support during business hours with unlimited calls, backed by 24/7/365 Security Operations Centre monitoring. Critical incidents and security events are watched around the clock, even after your office closes.
Yes. Libraries, depots, community centres and remote sites are covered the same as head office — same per-user price, same response times. Networking across sites is scoped and managed as part of the plan.
Yes. Business Premium licences for every covered user are bundled into the $229 per user, per month — along with backup, endpoint protection and device management. One invoice, no licence juggling.
We support and monitor what you already run — finance systems, property and rating systems, document management, line-of-business apps. Nothing needs to be replaced on day one; the roadmap is built around what makes sense for council, at council's pace.
Quarterly strategic reviews plus written governance reports to the audit committee — patch compliance, incident volumes, response times and Essential Eight maturity, in plain English. You'll always know exactly what you're paying for.
Print-ready brochures for your next council meeting or budget discussion — download, print or forward.
A 45-minute conversation with a real human — not a sales pitch. We'll review your current setup, your Essential Eight posture and your spend, and leave you with a written summary you can take to your next leadership meeting.