Australia

Summary
Australia’s overall degree of digital dependence increased from 0.82 in 2010 to 0.88 in 2023. Similar developments can be observed in the ICT services sector, which saw a hike from 0.52 to 0.70 during the investigation period. In ICT goods, on the other hand, the value remains stable around 0.88, registering only minor fluctuations. Both the foreign platform and the patent dimensions have values approximating 1.00. In bilateral ICT goods trade, Australia has been consistently more dependent on China (approx. 0.96) than on the U.S. (approx. 0.81) throughout the surveyed period.

Policies
Australia passed several policies between 2020 and 2026 to reduce its dependence on foreign digital technology. The measures covered fields like cybersecurity, critical technology supply chains and semiconductor manufacturing. A key policy was the National Reconstruction Fund, which supports Australian businesses developing in fields like AI or quantum computing.