Strategic investment in Australia’s robotics sector could add up to A$201 billion to GDP by 2040, with the potential to increase annual incomes by A$6,500 per person and create an average of 128,900 new jobs each year, according to a new research report by ACIL Allen, commissioned by Amazon Australia.
By doubling Australia’s industrial robot density and boosting service robot adoption by 15% in non-manufacturing sectors, economic modelling identified concrete pathways for government, industry and businesses to capture significant productivity and employment gains, including the creation of new job categories in maintenance and technical support.
Industry leaders say Australia must act now to turn its robotics research strength into real-world economic impact through broader adoption across a range of sectors.
Australia stands at a critical juncture. While it possesses world-class robotics research capabilities, particularly in field robotics for challenging, unstructured environments, it is still behind global counterparts in production, adoption, and robotics-related employment.
Industries like mining and agriculture already lead in robotics adoption, demonstrating what’s possible when market conditions and innovation systems align. But there’s enormous, untapped potential to expand this innovation into service industries and manufacturing.
The report also highlights the significant economic upside by strengthening Australia’s robotics sector, even marginally.
“Our analysis reveals that even relatively modest improvements to Australia’s robotics sector could deliver substantial productivity benefits across the entire economy,” says Alex Gash, Executive Director at ACIL Allen.
“The modelling shows how strengthening both adoption and production of robotics can generate measurable gains in GDP, real wages, and employment. What’s striking is the scaling effect: increases in robotics don’t just benefit individual firms or sectors, they lift productivity economy-wide.”
While the opportunity is substantial, realising it will require coordinated effort across Australia’s innovation community. The transition from research breakthrough to commercial application needs stronger pathways and partnership, connecting our world-class university research capabilities with industry expertise and real-world opportunities.
Strengthening infrastructure, including testing facilities, demonstration spaces, and industry partnerships, will be essential to scaling innovations and capturing global opportunities.
Amazon’s own deployment of assistive technology across its Australian operations has helped make work safer and easier, while providing pathways to new job categories and upskilling opportunities for its employees.
The deployment of Hercules mobile robots, which handle heavy lifting so employees don’t have to, can lift and move up to 500 kilograms of inventory in its fulfillment centers. This reduces physical strain and ensures employees can focus on work that requires human judgement and skill.
It has also introduced DeepFleet, a generative AI foundation model that acts like an intelligent traffic management system for its robot fleet – improving fleet travel efficiency by 10%, enabling faster order processing and delivery times. These technologies allow employees to focus on more complex, engaging tasks while driving demand for roles in robotics maintenance, systems operations, and technical support specialists.
Amazon’s commitment extends beyond its own operations, with its $1 billion Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund – which is open to Australian entrepreneurs – supporting collaborative technology and supply chain innovations.
It has also partnered with leading international innovation hubs like MassRobotics to help facilitate the development of assistive technologies.
The full ACIL Allen report, Securing Prosperity: Unlocking Australia’s Robotics Potential,
You can read the full report here.
