New framework strengthens AI adoption, safety, skills, and sovereign capability across Australia’s industrial sectors
ARM Hub has welcomed the release of the National AI Plan, calling it a decisive and practical roadmap designed to accelerate AI deployment across Australia’s industrial economy. The plan delivers a strategic balance of adoption support, safety controls, and sovereign capability—critical pillars for an era in which robotics, automation, and embedded AI are reshaping production environments.
Backed by $29.9 million for the AI Safety Institute and over $460 million across existing national AI programs, the plan sets a strong foundation to accelerate AI adoption while safeguarding businesses transitioning into high-automation environments. A major highlight is the strengthened role of the National AI Centre (NAIC), which will coordinate the entire AI Adopt Centre network, including ARM Hub.
“Australia finally has an AI plan built for industry, not just innovation.”
ARM Hub CEO and Founder Professor Cori Stewart said the plan arrives at a pivotal moment for Australian industry.
“The plan strengthens how Australia supports industrial AI adoption,” she said. “By coordinating the AI Adopt Centre network under NAIC and maintaining the $17 million AI Adopt Program, it ensures SMEs get practical support to deploy AI without the barriers larger companies can overcome.”
ARM Hub has long played a central role in helping businesses integrate AI into operations across advanced manufacturing, medical technology, defence, clean energy, metal fabrication, and enabling technologies like robotics and embedded AI. The organisation says the new national framework directly reinforces its mission.
Driving Practical Adoption and Skills on the Shop Floor
The National AI Plan emphasises skills development through TAFEs and vocational programs—recognising that operators, plant managers, and production staff must be AI-confident for the technology to deliver economic value. ARM Hub believes this focus on applied workforce skills is critical to ensuring AI transitions from research to real-world implementation.
Bolstering Sovereign Capability and Safety
The establishment of the AI Safety Institute introduces a central mechanism to test emerging AI capabilities, monitor risks, and support regulators. For industries integrating robotics, automation, and AI-enabled systems, this offers clarity and assurance around governance, safety, and national security.
The plan also advances sovereign capability by reinforcing Australia’s AI infrastructure and bringing consistency to implementation standards across industrial sectors.
Accelerating Industrial Innovation Nationwide
ARM Hub’s AI Adopt Centre will continue to support companies through practical deployment guidance, data infrastructure readiness, experimentation pathways, and connections to the broader national AI ecosystem. By aligning national programs and industry support structures under NAIC, the plan creates a more coherent national approach to scaling AI innovation.
With the National AI Plan now in place, ARM Hub says Australian industry is positioned to harness AI safely, strategically, and at scale—ensuring global competitiveness in emerging industrial technologies.