Quantum technologies have the potential to be among the most transformative in human history, radically reshaping industries like healthcare, mining, and transport. As scientists worldwide strive to transition quantum science from the lab into the real world, Australia is emerging as an important centre for pioneering research and commercial breakthroughs.
This year, the world marks a century since the birth of quantum mechanics with the 2025 Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Major companies, governments, and scientists travelled to Brisbane in record numbers for the Quantum Australia event in March, signalling Australia’s position as one of the top destinations for investment in the future of quantum computing and applied technology.
That position has been cemented with a series of world firsts. In 2022, for example, Silicon Quantum Computing developed the world’s first integrated circuit manufactured at quantum scale in Sydney. In the same year, researchers at Quantum Brilliance created the first room-temperature diamond-based quantum computer.
Both these technologies hold the promise of significant breakthroughs in industries from pharmaceuticals and batteries to quantum sensors and accelerators.
“In Australia, quantum is no longer a laboratory curiosity for the quantum-intrigued”, says Dr Cathy Foley, Australia’s former Chief Scientist. “We are actively seeing the adoption of quantum technologies across broad industry sectors.”
From Research to Reality
Today, as a result of three decades of dedication to excellence, Australia’s quantum sector is well developed. The country has the world’s fifth-largest quantum workforce, with 38 domestic and international firms and 26 quantum-focused research organisations.
The principal driver of Australia’s thriving quantum sector has been its talent. The country’s universities produce a consistent pipeline of world-leading research. This, in turn, attracts global talent and companies such as Quantum Motion and PsiQuantum that rely on a deep well of expertise to develop commercial quantum applications.
On its current trajectory, and with the right investment, Australia’s quantum industry could be worth AU$6 billion ($3.8 billion) and employ 19,000 people by 2045, according to the country’s National Quantum Strategy.
Australian research has already made its mark with the development of real-world, economic applications. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) LandTEM technology, for example, is a superconducting device that uses quantum effects to find the magnetic structures of ore bodies. In development for more than three decades,[1] the system has helped discover ore bodies of nickel, silver, and other resources worth AU$10 billion ($6.4 billion), of which AU$4 billion ($2.5 billion) have been in Australia.
Meanwhile, the Quantum Battery Team, another CSIRO project, is researching next-generation technologies that are poised to revolutionise energy storage in electric cars, renewable energy systems, and portable electronics.
Sydney-based Q-CTRL has secured a commercial advantage by developing a magnetic GPS-free navigation system that uses quantum sensors to find otherwise undetectable magnetic landmarks to determine positioning. The Ironstone Opal system, tiny enough to fit on a small drone, is immune to jamming and can be used in areas GPS satellite signals cannot reach.
Australian quantum technology is also going global. In December 2024, Australia announced a AU$1 billion ($640 million) deal with German company Rheinmetall to export defence vehicles, which are embedded with advanced quantum positioning systems developed by Sydney-based multinational Advanced Navigation. Elsewhere, Canada has agreed a AU$6.5 billion deal to buy the JORN radar system, which features Australian-developed quantum precision timing technology.
A Thriving Ecosystem
Commercial breakthroughs like these have helped establish Australia among the world’s leading quantum nations. Attracted by Australia’s talent pool, the country has seen recent foreign investments from major companies like UK-based Oxford Instruments and Quantum Motion.
Quantum Motion opened its first overseas lab in Sydney in 2024 following a multi-million-dollar investment in a project to “bridge the gap between academic experimentation and proprietary commercial quantum computers.”[2]
US-based PsiQuantum, co-founded by Australian Jeremy O’Brien, is building the world’s first utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane. On the research front, Fujitsu has signed an MOU with the Australian National University to establish a center for quantum research with the aim of building a quantum computer onsite.
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Published – May 26, 2025
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