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Hot new sector to create 16,000 high-paying jobs

Studio shot of a group of businesspeople standing in line against a grey background
Job applicants would do well to bone-up on one emerging tech sector. (Image: Getty)

Australia could create 16,000 well-paying jobs and more than $4 billion in annual revenue from its rising quantum technology industry, according to the CSIRO.

CSIRO chief Dr Larry Marshall said high-income jobs come from new industries, not from old sectors that every other nation is already hosting.

"Science and technology are the key to economic prosperity in a world driven by disruption," he said.

"As Australia recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, we will need to create new industries to give Australia [an] unfair advantage globally to produce unique high margin products that support higher wages."

Australian research already has a lead in quantum technology, which is currently in development around the world as a much faster alternative to current computers.

"Quantum technology is set to transform electronics, communications, computation, sensing and other fields," CSIRO chief scientist Cathy Foley told The Conversation.

"In the process it can create new markets, new applications and new jobs in Australia."

CSIRO's Growing Australia's Quantum Technology Industry report, released last week, identified healthcare, financial services, energy and defence as industries that are set to benefit from quantum tech.

The 16,000 new jobs consist of 10,000 in computing, 3,000 in communications and 3,000 in sensing and measurement.

While emerging tech often requires postgraduate qualifications for aspiring workers, the CSIRO wants to change that to enable all these jobs.

The report stated education providers needed to now expand their offerings on quantum tech, "including vocational training options that provide the practical skills needed to industrialise quantum technology".

"Quantum technology is not a phrase discussed over kitchen tables in Australia, but perhaps it should be," said Foley.

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