AI adoption in Australian businesses for 2025 Q1
Baseline data on Australian business AI adoption and responsible AI practice gaps informs how agencies frame sector-specific AI support and regulation.
Key points
- NAIC's Q1 2025 AI Adoption Tracker shows 82% of larger SMEs (200-500 employees) using AI, versus 33% for micro businesses.
- A new responsible AI dashboard reveals a gap between SME intentions and actual deployment of responsible AI practices.
- Primary industries and micro businesses lag significantly - awareness gaps, not just adoption gaps, are the key barrier.
Implications for Australian agencies
- Consider Policy and strategy teams could use this tracker data to calibrate sector-specific AI literacy interventions or assess the evidence base for regulatory proposals targeting SMEs.
- Monitor Agencies tracking responsible AI uptake may want to monitor the new responsible AI dashboard as quarterly data accumulates to identify whether the intention-to-practice gap narrows over time.
Implications are AI-generated. Starting points, not advice — see methodology for how they're framed.
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"AI adoption in Australian businesses for 2025 Q1"
Source: National AI Centre
Published: 6 August 2025
URL: https://www.industry.gov.au/news/ai-adoption-australian-businesses-2025-q1
The National AI Centre's updated AI Adoption Tracker covers Q1 2025 (January–March), drawing on monthly surveys of 400 SMEs conducted by Fifth Quadrant. Key findings show AI adoption correlates strongly with business size, from 82% among larger organisations to 33% for micro businesses. Retail trade and health and education lead by sector; primary industries lag with high unawareness rates. A newly launched responsible AI dashboard reveals that while many SMEs endorse responsible AI in principle, fewer than a quarter protect customer data used in AI systems or provide staff training, indicating a significant intention-to-practice gap across the SME population.
Implications for Australian agencies:
- [Consider] Policy and strategy teams could use this tracker data to calibrate sector-specific AI literacy interventions or assess the evidence base for regulatory proposals targeting SMEs.
- [Monitor] Agencies tracking responsible AI uptake may want to monitor the new responsible AI dashboard as quarterly data accumulates to identify whether the intention-to-practice gap narrows over time.
Retrieved from SIMS, 18 July 2026.