Progress

There has been an enormous amount of activity in Australia’s quantum community to date. This activity has been guided by the strategy, other government programs and investments, and the Australian quantum community. 

Ambitious investment shows Australia is committed to quantum

In April 2024, the Australian and Queensland governments announced a joint investment of $940 million for PsiQuantum to build and operate its world-first utility scale, fault tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane, establish an Asia-Pacific headquarters and support a range of local research and industry collaborations. This is a major step forward in the growth of a thriving Australian quantum sector and shows Australia’s long-term commitment to a prosperous onshore quantum industry. Australian businesses and researchers face strong incentives to move overseas. This investment shows we are focused on bringing talent, fostered through Australian universities, back onshore. It stimulates foreign direct investment and grows our sovereign capability. The investment is expected to yield a range of positive spillover benefits for the industry and the wider economy in the years to come. 

As part of this investment, PsiQuantum will:

• setup its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Brisbane
• build and operate successive generations of its fault tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane 
• create up to 400 highly skilled local jobs
• create partnerships with the local quantum industry and advanced manufacturing clusters
• create a dedicated climate research centre
• open new digital and advanced tech supply chain opportunities
• invest in university and research collaborations, including PhD positions, mentoring and internship opportunities.

In July 2023, the Australian Government invested $15 million in Silicon Quantum Computing’s (SQC) Series A round to support the development of a quantum computer using silicon-based hardware. It increased the total Australian Government investment in SQC to $40 million, and further reflects a commitment to investing in opportunities to support the industry at different stages of company growth This investment supports the Australian manufacturing of SQC’s vertically integrated full stack quantum computing capability.

The National Reconstruction Fund creates a funding pathway for enabling capabilities

The Australian Government’s $15 billion NRF facilitates increased flows of finance into the Australian economy. Through targeted investments, the NRF will diversify and transform Australian industry and rebuild Australia’s competitiveness across the manufacturing value chain. There are 7 Government identified priority areas of the Australian economy. One of these is enabling capabilities, which includes quantum technologies.

The NRF Corporation’s target investment level for enabling technologies is $1 billion. It highlights the Australian Government’s commitment to maintaining a competitive advantage in deep technology industries and sustaining our national industrial and scientific progress. This supports the objectives of the strategy by fostering innovation and supporting industries to further develop quantum technologies. The NRF Corporation is engaging with quantum businesses to learn more about potential investment opportunities.

Quantum Australia will connect the Australian quantum technology sector to the wider community

In April 2024, the Australian Government awarded $18.4 million to the University of Sydney to create an Australian centre for quantum growth, called Quantum Australia. Quantum Australia is a consortium of industry, research and government partners with nodes across the country. It will catalyse industry growth, support collaborative research and strengthen Australia’s position as a global quantum leader. Quantum Australia’s programs will include:

• The Quantum Ecosystem Development program, which will deliver a deeply connected quantum stakeholder landscape with improved understanding of the potential for quantum technologies. 
• The Translation Accelerator program, which will grow the Australian quantum industry, unlock new use-cases for quantum technology, increase industry-academic research partnerships, and help grow the quantum workforce. 
• The Entrepreneurship Support program, which will attract quantum entrepreneurs nationwide and internationally, supporting them on their journey from experts to founders. 
• Programs such as a Quantum Safe Industry workshop, IP roundtable, and Elevating Quantum Women’s Voices, which will ensure an equitable, ethical, and secure quantum ecosystem with opportunities for all Australians.

The launch of the Critical Technologies Challenge Program offers a practical pathway to demonstrate Australian quantum innovation

Round one applications opened for the $36 million CTCP in May 2024. The CTCP fosters collaboration between Australia’s quantum businesses, researchers and end-users to develop innovative solutions to the first set of nationally significant challenges:

• optimising the performance, sustainability and security of energy networks
• improving medical imaging and medical sensors to support diagnosis, treatment of disease and monitoring activities inside the human body
• enhancing communication with autonomous systems in varying environments 
• optimising and reducing the impact of resource exploration, extraction, and mineral processing.

The 2 funding stages will build awareness and uptake of quantum technologies through quantum use cases in sensing, communications, and computing. The funding stages are:

• stage 1 – up to $500,000 for feasibility projects
• stage 2 – successful feasibility projects will be invited to apply for an extra $5 million to develop the demonstrator projects and proof of concept. 

Round one saw a huge level of interest from the quantum technology sector and adjacent industries. The program has offered $5.2 million in funding to 14 feasibility projects exploring how quantum technologies can improve the lives of Australians. Projects include:

• making a high-speed optical scanner for diabetes assessment
• using quantum computing for remote community energy systems with renewable energy sources 
• developing resilient communications and navigation of autonomous systems without GPS
• creating a new quantum optical sensor which will enable selective mining of rare-earth elements in clay deposits   
• developing diagnostic technology to detect the ‘Invisible Melanoma’.

ARC Centres of Excellence continue to grow Australia’s quantum industry

ARC Centres of Excellence are the backbone of Australia’s quantum sector. Through these centres, researchers, industry and government are working to develop multidisciplinary research and use cases for quantum technologies in areas like biomedical imaging, chemical design and clean energy.

For the next 8 years, biotechnology is expected to add up to $8 billion gross value to the Australian economy by helping solve challenging research problems and re-design applications for this technology. Australia aims to be at the forefront of this development through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology (QUBIC), Australia’s first Centre of Excellence applying quantum physics to biotechnology. 

QUBIC translates research into commercialisation opportunities, paving the way for new markets using biotechnology. It also helps with skilling Australia’s future quantum professionals to add value to a high‑potential industry. 

Australia has other existing Centres of Excellence focused on quantum and related fields. For example, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) conducts world-leading research in quantum machines for practical applications. EQUS has made a measurable impact on Australia’s quantum capability by:

• contributing to more than 75 policy briefings and submissions to grow quantum literacy in government, business and the community
• identifying over 37 technologies potentially benefiting society
• investing more than $1.6 million into 37 projects attracting $2.5 million in in-kind investment.

Australian businesses and universities are attracting overseas investors and technology partnerships

In a challenging economic environment marked by rising interest rates and low domestic investment in growth-stage technology companies, several Australian businesses such as Silicon Quantum Computing, Diraq, Q-CTRL and Nomad Atomics announced successful capital raising rounds and collaborations with large technology businesses. The Australian National University also announced a memorandum of understanding with Fujitsu Australia Limited to give industry, government, research, academics and students in Australia access to a world-class quantum research facility. 

Boosting awareness of quantum technologies is vital

Market research carried out in May 2024 showed less than a third of Australians are aware of quantum technologies. However, outreach from the quantum sector to the wider community is helping raise awareness of the opportunities quantum technologies present.

In 2023, Professor Michelle Simmons AO was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for creating the field of atomic electronics, and for her discoveries in silicon quantum computing which are powering the world from the digital age to the quantum age. Professor Simmons also presented the 2023 Boyer Lecture series on quantum computing, linking fundamental physics pioneered in Australia with extraordinary technological advancement and the future of computing, reaching a national audience.

In 2024, Dr Andrew Horsley of Quantum Brilliance received the 2024 Prize for New Innovators. The award was in recognition of his groundbreaking innovations toward making quantum computing an everyday technology.

In May 2024, the SQA and Qubit by Qubit held the third annual Quantum Tech Camp in regional Australia. The camp hosted 52 high school students from under-represented groups from New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. It introduced the students to quantum technologies and other aspects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The camp included guest speakers from the Australian and international quantum industry to highlight future employment opportunities. 

Australia hosted events such as the Quantum Australia Conference and the Quantum Meets series. The Quantum Australia Conference was the biggest event in Australia’s quantum calendar since 2022. It brought international quantum experts together to highlight advancements in and use of quantum technologies. The establishment of the Quantum Australia consortium means this important event will continue its reach across the country for another 3 years.

The Quantum Meets series brings together quantum experts with leaders from different sectors of the economy. Australia’s Chief Scientist leads this series with coordination from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The events dive into the opportunities quantum technologies present to different sectors of the economy. They also create a platform for the Australian quantum industry to deepen connections with potential users and customers. Quantum Meets events help accelerate the translation of quantum technologies into applied solutions that could boost productivity and drive innovation across the economy.

The Quantum Meets series has connected the quantum sector with representatives from the sport, resources, space, energy, finance and biotechnology industries as well as the public service, with more workshops planned in the coming months.

From 2023 to 2025 the Post-Quantum Cryptography in the Indo-Pacific Program will engage with government and industry stakeholders to improve their post-quantum preparedness. The Australian Oceania Cyber Security Centre (OCSC), jointly owned by 8 Victorian universities, manages the program. OCSC is using cybersecurity capacity assessments, independent evaluations, local research, and educational programs to build regional capability.