Ahead of the 2025 federal election, the Australian Academy of Science is proposing an investment of $200 million per year over 10 years to urgently modernise Australia’s high-performance computing and data infrastructure – our supercomputers – which are reaching their end of life and cannot meet the growing demands of science, defence, industry and society.
The Academy is also calling for the development of a 10-year plan to meet our future supercomputing needs, rather than taking a just-in-time funding approach to critical infrastructure.
Supercomputers play a vital role in all our lives. They:
Read our comprehensive proposal on high-performance computing and data.
Download the fact sheet (PDF, 440KB)
High-performance computing and data (HPCD) improves agricultural productivity by optimising planting schedules and resource allocation, leading to higher yields and lower food prices. It provides information that enhances disaster preparedness and response, minimising economic damage from floods, bushfires, and extreme weather events that drive up repair and insurance costs.
Phoenix RapidFire is an application that simulates the spread of one, or more, fires across the landscape. This is more than just a computer program, and has already saved towns from bushfires – saving lives as well as homes, businesses and other infrastructure.
The simulation implements a fire characterisation model capturing detail such as flame height, intensity, size, ember density and asset impact throughout the simulation process. Both Victoria and NSW RFS have used this model to manage bushfires.
As bushfires increase in frequency and become more severe, we will need more detailed monitoring and simulation to improve our response to these events before they become devastating.
HPCD also supports energy grid optimisation, efficiently integrating new energy technologies like renewables to lower energy bills. By advancing healthcare research, HPCD accelerates the development of cost-effective treatments, reducing out-of-pocket expenses.
Australian supercomputers are used to power the ZERO Childhood Cancer initiative, where every Australian child with cancer has access to personalised treatment.
Personalising cancer treatment means less pain and suffering, less strain on the healthcare system, better outcomes including long-term impacts, and fewer out of pocket expenses for the family.
With increased supercomputing capacity – we could expand this type of treatment for other cancers and diseases, improving the health of Australians and reducing the burden on our healthcare system.
Supercomputing strengthens sectors including artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology and advanced manufacturing, creating demand for skilled workers. Australia will not be able to maintain tech industries, or retain skilled workers like engineers, data scientists and software engineers if we continue to fall behind in computing infrastructure.
The recent rise of DeepSeek highlights the competitiveness of AI innovation – and that nations other than the United States still have an opportunity take a make their mark in AI research and products.
Breaking ground on new industries from supercomputing research will create highly skilled tech jobs, and advance the Australian path to net zero.
Researchers are using an Australian supercomputer in the search to find a new material that could significantly improve the process of producing green hydrogen directly from seawater. Finding new materials offers the opportunity to build new industries in Australia.
Without reinforcing our rapidly ageing supercomputing infrastructure – we will lose these opportunities.
AI and supercomputers are already becoming a global currency, a valuable asset driving the biggest wins and loses of the global stock market and impacting economies globally.
There is increasing competition to secure computing infrastructure, and companies like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Oracle looking to invest in infrastructure in Australia. These companies are looking for signals to follow from government investment – investing in supercomputing will drive co-investment in on-shore capability from the business sector.
More powerful and lighter batteries are needed to take the electrification of vehicles from cars to trucks and planes. Discovering the next generation of battery technologies could place Australia at the forefront of this booming industry.
An Australian supercomputer is being used to understand exactly what happens between the anode and cathode of next-generation lithium-metal batteries in search of the best materials to ensure safe and reliable operation of these powerful batteries.
The next generation of supercomputers could fast-track the time to discover these new materials and place Australia at the front of the queue.
Supercomputers onshore means that sensitive Australian data stays on shore, and we are front of the line for new discoveries. The next generation of computing has the potential to unlock new critical technologies currently unimaginable.
Defence's supercomputing capability is vital in the design, development and analysis of modern weapon systems and national security systems.
Supercomputers enable the use of technologies such as high-frequency, skywave over-the-horizon radar technology used in the Jindalee Operation Radar Network (JORN). JORN provides 24-hour military surveillance of the northern and western approaches to Australia, and also can assist with detecting illegal entry, smuggling and unlicensed fishing.
As weapons and critical technologies quickly develop, we need to reinforce our sovereign capability that allows us to monitor for threats and respond to them.
Investing in high-performance computing and data infrastructure was one of the four inclusions in the Academy's 2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission.
Read our media release
Read the Academy's 2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission
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