Our focus areas

The Critical Minerals Strategy focus areas: growing a skilled workforce; accelerating strategically important projects to production; attracting investment and building international partnerships; lifting competitiveness through coordinated infrastructure development and efficient regulatory systems; showcase Australia as a world leading, high-standard producer at scale; First Nations engagement and benefit sharing.
Critical Minerals Strategy focus areas
Focus area Success outcomes
Accelerating strategically important projects to production
  • A strong pipeline of projects progressing through development stages to final investment decision.
  • More domestic processing and refining, increasing value captured onshore.
  • Stronger innovation that translates into Australian intellectual property developed, protected, commercialised, and applied domestically.
Attracting investment and building international partnerships
  • Increased demand for, and foreign investment in, Australian critical minerals.
  • More diverse and resilient supply chains that reduce exposure to concentration, market distortion and strategic vulnerabilities.
First Nations engagement and benefit sharing
  • First Nations communities have the information and expertise to fully participate in critical minerals opportunities. 
  • Growth of the critical minerals sector supports economic self‑determination and wealth creation for First Nations communities.
Showcase Australia as a world leading, high‑standard producer at scale 
  • Australia as a key driver in shaping standards‑based markets. 
  • Lower emissions from extraction and processing activities.
  • Increased circular economy practices.
Lifting competitiveness through coordinated infrastructure development and efficient regulatory systems
  • Better access to enabling infrastructure, common‑user facilities and reliable energy for critical minerals projects.
  • Improving efficiency and predictability of national environmental approvals. 
  • Alignment between Commonwealth, state and territory governments for developing strategically important projects.
Growing a skilled workforce
  • More workers with the skills needed for critical minerals processing and refining.
  • Greater diversity and inclusivity in workplaces.

Explore the focus areas