Quantum technologies take advantage of the way matter and light behave at atomic and subatomic scales. Quantum mechanical properties (like entanglement, superposition and tunnelling) can be used to build advanced technologies that would otherwise be impossible.
We have updated the data in this list since we first published it in 2021. Find previous datasets in the National Library of Australia’s Trove website archive.
These technologies can be used for:
Australia’s research strengths in critical technologies underpin new economic opportunities and sovereign capabilities.
From 2022 to 2024, Australia’s research trends are consistent across critical technology fields, with quantum seeing a slight increase in publications.
Research quality increased from 2022 to 2024. We define quality as the percentage of publications in the top 10% most cited publications in the field.
Research specialisation remained the same from 2022 to 2024. We define specialisation as the ratio of the share of a field in the publications that come from a given country to the share of the same field in the global total of publications.
Australian research publications for quantum technologies field, 2022–2024.
| 2022 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Publications | 717 | 787 |
Intellectual property (IP) rights are vital to supporting translation of critical technology research outcomes into products, businesses and new capabilities.
Quantum (standard) patent applications tripled from 2017 to 2022.
Quantum technologies (standard) patent applications in Australia, 2017–2022.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | % growth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patent applications | 48 | 63 | 74 | 91 | 140 | 152 | 216.67 |
Quantum (standard) patent applications by Australian applicants nearly doubled from 2017 to 2022, bouncing back from a decrease in 2019.
Quantum technologies Australian applicant (standard) patent applications in Australia, 2017–2022.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patent applications | 4 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
Venture capital (VC) investment data can help assess Australia’s critical technology capability. The data acts as a real-time signal of where private investment is supporting innovation.
Quantum investment more than doubled from about $65 million in 2023 to roughly $160 million in 2024. The Australian and Queensland Government’s investment in PsiQuantum has partly attributed to this increase.
Venture capital investment in Australian quantum technologies firms, 2014–2024.
| Year | VC investment in $millions |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | 0 |
| 2017 | 3.3 |
| 2018 | 18.04 |
| 2019 | 14.88 |
| 2020 | 1.73 |
| 2021 | 11.31 |
| 2022 | 39.83 |
| 2023 | 65.66 |
| 2024 | 159.02 |
| Total | 325.77 |
While our quantum sector is smaller than those of China and the United States, we can have a leading role in the global industry by:
CSIRO collected all publication data from Web of Science systems and covers 2022 and 2024.
We sourced all patent data from IP Australia. The data covers 2017 to 2022 for standard patent applications filed in Australia. It does not include innovation patents, following a 2022 review phasing them out. We note innovation filings were on the rise during this period, which led to a spike in the years leading up to ceasing.
DISR collected all VC data in March 2025 using Pitchbook and covers 2014 to 2024.
