Oceania

Research cutoff: late September 2026 (sources through ~Sep/Oct 2026)
Scope: Australia (primary depth), New Zealand, Papua New Guinea / Pacific Islands (note)
Method: WebSearch / WebFetch of primary and reputable secondary sources (company press, Australian Government / DISR / PM / Defence, CSIRO, NRFC, AQSN, Dodd-Walls Centre / MBIE-linked material, Quantum Zeitgeist / Quantum Insider / InnovationAus cross-checks). Unverified or conflicting claims are marked. Do not treat secondary funding aggregates as audited totals.

Executive snapshot (Oceania)

Australia is the Oceania industrial centre of gravity. New Zealand contributes internationally respected optics/atomic research and a small photonics industry. Pacific island states are not quantum-industry participants as of this cutoff.

Australia

National strategy, roadmaps & growth institutions

National Quantum Strategy (May 2023 — Department of Industry, Science and Resources)

• Vision: by 2030, Australia recognised as a leader of the global quantum industry.
• Consultation led by then Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM (2022).
• Five themes (7-year action horizon): (1) R&D, investment and use; (2) infrastructure and materials; (3) skilled workforce; (4) standards/frameworks supporting national interests; (5) trusted, ethical, inclusive ecosystem.
• Explicitly signals bold infrastructure ambition, including supporting error-corrected / utility-scale quantum computing in Australia (Theme 2).
• Financing channel: $15B National Reconstruction Fund, with ≥$1B earmarked for critical technologies (Action 1.3).
• International frames: AUKUS (incl. AQuA quantum arrangement for PNT-class military capabilities), Quad and other partner arrangements (Action 4.2).

CSIRO Quantum Roadmap

• Original CSIRO Futures roadmap (2020; industry engagement continued) framed a multi-billion opportunity: commonly cited figures ~$2.2B industry / ~8,700 jobs by 2030 and ~$6B / ~19,400 jobs by 2040–45 (CSIRO materials; treat as scenario estimates, not forecasts).
• Sectors highlighted: health, mining, space, defence (sensing/timing/comms).
• The National Quantum Strategy positions itself as the policy step beyond the CSIRO roadmap.

Quantum Australia / Australian Centre for Quantum Growth

• National growth centre stood up under the Australian Centre for Quantum Growth programme (2024) to accelerate commercialisation and adoption; delivery arm aligned with the National Quantum Strategy.
• CEO: Petra Andrén (appointed ~Mar 2025 per Quantum Australia / Quantum Insider).
• Hosts the Quantum Australia Conference (e.g. Adelaide, 29–30 Apr 2026 — theme “Quantum for Impact”).
• Works with universities, CSIRO, and industry on workforce and industry-deployment programmes (incl. links to Sydney Quantum Academy / Next Generation Quantum Graduates narratives — verify current programme owners on business.gov.au / Quantum Australia).

Australian Quantum Software Network (AQSN)

• Registered NFP (ACNC) focused on quantum algorithms, software and theory.
• Board (as listed on quantumsoftware.org.au): Prof. Gavin Brennen (Macquarie), Prof. Simon Devitt (UTS), Dr Zixin Huang (RMIT).
• Member institutions (listed): UTS, University of Sydney, Macquarie, UNSW, University of Melbourne, UWA, Monash, RMIT, University of Queensland, University of Wollongong, Griffith, CSIRO, Q-CTRL, Eigensystems.
• Partner institutions (listed): Silicon Quantum Computing, Diraq, BTQ, Google Quantum AI, Aalto, OIST, Hon Hai Research Institute.

Defence / DSTG / dual-use

• Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) leads ADF-facing quantum R&D; quantum is among six Innovation, Science and Technology priorities in the 2024 National Defence Strategy and Defence IS&T Strategy (Accelerating Asymmetric Advantage).
• AUKUS Pillar II / AQuA: generation-after-next quantum military capabilities; early focus on positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).
• Apr 2025: DSTG-led project (Australian Army funded) on ground-to-satellite optical quantum link components for a quantum-secured timing network; partners CSIRO, ANU, University of Western Australia.
• Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) Emerging & Disruptive Technologies programme: multi-year quantum / information-warfare contracts. Aug 2025 awards included (per Defence / Quantum Insider):
  • Silicon Quantum Computing — sovereign-manufactured quantum-enhanced ML processor for Defence;
  • CSIRO — quantum ML algorithms to detect/mitigate adversarial/spoofing attacks;
  • university consortium (Macquarie, Melbourne, RMIT, UTS) — related detection research.
  • Programme context cited ~$60M over three years for EDT, with incremental contract tranches (verify exact cumulative on defence.gov.au).
• Industry dual-use products already in field validation include Q-CTRL Ironstone Opal (quantum navigation / GPS-denied) and quantum-sensing offerings from QuantX Labs, DeteQt, Nomad Atomics, Quantum Brilliance (sensing roadmap).

Geography — four main poles

Melbourne / Victoria adds Nomad Atomics, Quantum Brilliance Quantum Diamond Foundry activity (reported), University of Melbourne (IBM Quantum Hub), RMIT, Breakthrough Victoria participation in funding rounds.

Flagship companies (Australia)

PsiQuantum — Brisbane / Moreton Bay (US HQ; AU utility-scale site)

Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC)

Diraq

Q-CTRL

Quantum Brilliance

QuintessenceLabs

Archer Materials (ASX: AXE)

Other notable Australian vendors (shorter form)

Universities & research infrastructure (Australia)

Policy & capital summary (Australia)

• National Quantum Strategy (2023) + Quantum Australia growth centre + NRFC equity cheques into SQC, Diraq, QuintessenceLabs (and reported QB-related foundry support) mark a shift from research excellence to industrial policy.
• PsiQuantum package (~A$0.94–1.0B combined) is the single largest discrete public commitment; distinct from NRFC company equity.
• DARPA QBI Stage B participation by SQC and Diraq is an external credibility signal for AU silicon.
• Dual-use sensing/PNT (Q-CTRL, QuantX, DeteQt, DSTG/ASCA) may commercialise ahead of fault-tolerant compute.
• Software/theory coordination via AQSN; industry conferences via Quantum Australia.

New Zealand

Character

New Zealand’s quantum landscape is research-led. As of mid/late 2026 there are no known standalone quantum-computer hardware companies. Strengths: quantum optics, precision atomic physics, superconductivity / cryogenic hardware research, and a photonics commercial layer. Cloud access and international partnerships substitute for domestic QC builders.

National programmes & strategy

Quantum Technologies Aotearoa (QTA)

• National programme 2024–2028, led by Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre.
• Funded by MBIE Catalyst Strategic grant NZ$12M.
• Portfolio: quantum sensing, communication/networking, quantum memory, computation, free-space optical comms, qubit readout, etc.
• International collaborators cited: Joint Quantum Institute (USA), CQT Singapore, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), UK Quantum Technology Hub in Computing and Simulation, KAIST (Korea); manages Catalyst Strategic NZ–Korea joint research partnerships (three quantum-communication projects funded 2025, up to NZ$450k each over three years).

Is there a formal “MBIE quantum strategy” document?

• QTA functions as the coordinated national research strategy.
• Separately, the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology (NZIAT) ran a government-funded quantum discovery phase (NZ$1.35M, Dec 2025–Jun 2026) to assess capability and scope a possible national quantum-technologies platform; by Sep 2026 public messaging indicated progression into a design phase — not yet a final investment decision (LinkedIn/MBIE-adjacent posts; treat as process milestone).
• No equivalent to Australia’s 2023 National Quantum Strategy white paper identified as a single published MBIE “Quantum Strategy” brand — mark: strategy = QTA + NZIAT scoping, not a PsiQuantum-scale industrial package.

Research institutions

Commercial / photonics companies

Neither builds quantum computers; both supply optics tooling relevant to quantum-photonics research and industry.

NZ vs Australia (one line)

Australia has multiple full-stack / qubit vendors and a ~A$1B utility-scale build; New Zealand has CoRE-grade optics research, a NZ$12M national programme, and photonics SMEs — complementary, not competitive at industrial scale.

Papua New Guinea & Pacific Islands

Finding (late 2026): no identified commercial quantum computing industry, national QC strategy, or university-scale experimental quantum computing programme comparable to AU/NZ.

What exists at the margin:

• Individual academic advocacy / education fundraising aimed at introducing quantum science curricula in PNG (LinkedIn advocacy; not an industrial programme).
• Broader Pacific cybersecurity / post-quantum cryptography awareness training delivered via Australian universities and partner programmes (e.g. Monash-linked PQC training narratives; US-funded regional cyber capacity themes) — relevant to crypto-agility, not to building quantum computers.
• No verified PsiQuantum-class, SQC-class, or Dodd-Walls-class quantum centres in PNG, Fiji, Samoa, or other Pacific states in open sources reviewed for this brief.

Assessment: Treat PNG/Pacific as out of scope for industry mapping beyond noting capacity-building and PQC preparedness interest. Anything claiming a PNG “quantum computing company” should be verified carefully — naming collisions / marketing sites exist without evidence of qubit R&D.

Cross-cutting observations (Oceania)

1. Silicon is Australia’s distinctive technical brand — complementary atom-precision (SQC) and CMOS quantum-dot (Diraq) paths, both DARPA QBI Stage B.
2. Photonic utility-scale is being imported/anchored via PsiQuantum in Queensland rather than grown solely from a domestic photonic unicorn HQ.
3. Software & sensing punch above hardware headcount — Q-CTRL’s global control footprint and Ironstone Opal; QuintessenceLabs’ long security revenue history.
4. Room-temperature diamond (Quantum Brilliance) and listed 12CQ (Archer) diversify modality risk beyond cryogenic silicon/photonics.
5. Capital mix: sovereign (NRFC, state equity/loans), corporate strategics (Telstra, CBA), deep-tech VC (Main Sequence, Blackbird, etc.), and US defence/validation pathways (DARPA, In-Q-Tel, ORNL, CHIPS).
6. New Zealand remains a research & photonics node; watch NZIAT design-phase outcomes for any 2027+ industrialisation step.
7. Pacific: monitor PQC/cyber capacity only unless new primary evidence appears.

Source hygiene / unverified markers

• Funding aggregates ($200M+, $79M, etc.) often conflict across directories — prefer named round announcements (NRFC releases, company Series B posts, ASX PDFs, PM media).
• PsiQuantum COD dates shifted with the Airport → Moreton Bay move; prefer groundbreaking + cryoplant delivery sequencing over older “2027 operational” marketing.
• Quantum Brilliance CEO vs co-founder titles differ across secondary bios — company About page (Mark Luo CEO; Marcus Doherty CTO) used as primary.
• Archer single-qubit demo timing is guidance, not a completed milestone as of this cutoff.
• NZ NZIAT “design phase” is a process step, not an appropriation for a full national quantum lab.
• PNG/Pacific: absence of evidence ≠ proof of absolute zero activity, but no credible industry presence found in targeted search.

Sources

• Australia’s National Quantum Strategy (industry.gov.au)
• Silicon Quantum Computing · Diraq · Q-CTRL · Quantum Brilliance · QuintessenceLabs
• PsiQuantum (Moreton Bay; company site)
• DARPA QBI Stage B selection (includes SQC and Diraq)

New Zealand’s Quantum Technologies Aotearoa grant is described in the body from the research note. A dedicated programme URL was not confirmed for this revision. See the programme record.