Last checked 3 November 2026
Data as at 3 November 2026
Insights · Team level only · n ≥ 5 · band shown on every score
AI adoption in Australia, by the numbers your board will ask for.
Adoption rates by business size, the skills that are in shortage, what your staff are already doing with AI, and where the value actually lands. Sourced, dated, and built to be shared.
Adoption · Australia · 7 min read
Twelve percent of Australian businesses use AI. The gap is size, not sector.
Large firms almost quadrupling adoption in three years, from 9% in 2021-22 to 35% in 2024-25. Small firms are stuck at eleven percent. The difference is not the technology, it is the people around it.Adoption · Australia12%12% of Australian businesses used AI in 2024–25. Large 35%, medium 22%, small and micro 11%.Source · ABS, Business Characteristics Survey 2024–25, 2026Shortages · Australia29%29% of assessed occupations were in national shortage on the 2025 list: 293 of 1,022. Professionals 122, trades 99.Source · Jobs and Skills Australia, Occupation Shortage List, 2025 (2026 edition published October 2026)2025 list; the 2026 list, published October 2026, shows a further easing.AI use by business size, AustraliaLarge firms almost quadrupled adoption in three years. Small firms barely moved.What your staff are doing alreadyUse is ahead of policy, training and trust.People · Governance · 6 min readYour staff are already using AI. Half of them are hiding it.In Australia, 51% of employees have passed off AI output as their own and 44% have used it against policy. Only a quarter have had any training. The fix is not a ban.Shortages · Hiring · 7 min readHiring in a shortage: 29% of occupations, and the skills that change by 2030.Nearly three in ten assessed Australian occupations were in shortage on the 2025 list; the 2026 list, published October 2026, shows a further easing. Employers say the skills they need will change by 39% in five years. You cannot hire your way out of both at once.Statistics library
Nine numbers, nine sources.
Every figure links to its own page, with the statement, the source and a citation you can copy.
Adoption · Australia12%12% of Australian businesses used AI in 2024–25. Large 35%, medium 22%, small and micro 11%.Source · ABS, Business Characteristics Survey 2024–25, 2026Hiring+36%more non-AI job ads posted by Australian firms that adopted AI than by comparable non-adopters (4,000+ firms, 2020 to 2023).Source · CSIRO, research into firms adopting AI, Apr 2026Shortages · Australia29%29% of assessed occupations were in national shortage on the 2025 list: 293 of 1,022. Professionals 122, trades 99.Source · Jobs and Skills Australia, Occupation Shortage List, 2025 (2026 edition published October 2026)2025 list; the 2026 list, published October 2026, shows a further easing.Shadow AI · Australia51%51% of Australian employees have presented AI-generated content as their own; 44% use AI against workplace policy.Source · KPMG and University of Melbourne, Trust, Attitudes and Use of Artificial Intelligence: A Global Study 2025Training · Australia24%24% of Australians report any formal or informal AI training. Only 36% are willing to trust AI systems.Source · KPMG and University of Melbourne, Trust, Attitudes and Use of Artificial Intelligence: A Global Study 2025Value95%95% of enterprise generative AI pilots produced little or no measurable P&L return.Source · MIT NANDA, The GenAI Divide, 2025Report no longer hosted by MIT NANDA; figure as reported at publication, August 2025Barriers63%63% of employers name skills gaps as the biggest barrier to business transformation.Source · World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report, Jan 2025Workforce plans41%41% of employers plan to reduce workforce where AI automates tasks; 77% plan to reskill and upskill.Source · World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report, Jan 2025Leadership25%25% of US employees say their organisation has communicated a clear plan for integrating AI.Source · Gallup, AI at work indicator, May 2026
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