AI adoption in Australian small business: the 2026 numbers.
Every figure on this page comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ASBFEO, is labelled with its reference period, and links straight to the source. No vendor surveys, no projections, no rounded-up marketing numbers.
The short answer
12% of Australian businesses reported using AI in 2024-25, up from 1% in 2021-22. Among small and micro businesses under 20 employees the rate is around 11%, against around 35% of large businesses. So AI use in Australia is growing fast off a very low base, and the smaller the business, the less likely it is to have started. For an owner reading this, that gap is the opportunity: most of your competitors have not moved yet.
How to read these numbers.
AI adoption stats get quoted loosely. The ABS measures whether a business usedAI in the reference period, not how deeply or how well. There is also no official series called an "Australian small business AI adoption rate", so the honest proxy is the ABS size band for businesses under 20 employees. We have kept the wording close to the source and flagged the reference period on every figure so you can check it yourself.
Theme 1
Adoption levels by business size.
How many Australian businesses are actually using AI, and how that splits by headcount.
12%
Proportion of Australian businesses that reported using artificial intelligence in the 2024-25 financial year, up from 1% in 2021-22.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
Around 11%
Proportion of small and micro businesses (under 20 employees) that reported using AI in their workplace in 2024-25. This is the closest ABS figure to a true Australian small business AI adoption rate.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
22%
Proportion of medium-sized businesses (20-199 employees) that had adopted AI in 2024-25, up from 3% in 2021-22.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
Around 35%
Proportion of large businesses (200+ employees) that reported using AI in 2024-25, up from 9% in 2021-22.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
Theme 2
What separates the businesses that have started.
Size is not the only divider. Whether a business is already innovating matters more.
19% vs 4%
AI use among small businesses (5-19 employees) that are innovation-active (19%) compared with small businesses that are not innovation-active (4%), in 2024-25. Micro businesses (0-4 employees) show 18% vs 6%.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
97.3%
Proportion of all Australian businesses that were small businesses (0-19 employees) in June 2025, representing 2,656,469 small businesses. Breakdown: 63.6% non-employing, 25.2% employ 1-4 people, 8.5% employ 5-19 people.
Source: ASBFEO, using ABS Counts of Australian Business, June 2025 (published August 2025)
Read together, these 2 figures explain a lot. Small businesses make up 97.3% of all Australian businesses, and the vast majority of them are non-employing or employ fewer than 5 people. Within that group, the ABS split is 19% against 4% for businesses with 5-19 employees, and 18% against 6% for businesses with 0-4 employees, depending on whether they are innovation-active.
Theme 3
The wider digital picture.
AI is not arriving into a fully digital business landscape. Plenty of basics are still unevenly adopted.
51%
Proportion of Australian businesses that used social media for their online presence in 2024-25, up from 47% in 2021-22.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
32%
Proportion of Australian businesses receiving orders online in 2024-25, comparable to 30% in 2021-22.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024-25 financial year
51% of Australian businesses use social media and 32% take orders online, and the online-orders figure has barely shifted since 2021-22. That is worth keeping in mind before anyone tells you AI is table stakes. For most Australian small businesses, it is still early.
What this means for your business.
The honest read of the data is that AI adoption in Australia is real and accelerating, but small business is well behind, and adoption is concentrated in businesses that were already willing to change how they work. Nothing in these figures says you are late. They say the opposite: at around 11% adoption among businesses under 20 employees, most of your local competitors have not started.
What the numbers cannot tell you is where to begin. That is a question about your business, not the national average. In practice the first move is usually the task that already leaks money every week: calls nobody answers, quotes that go out 3 days late, or admin that eats an evening.
Start with missed calls
An AI receptionist answers every call, day or night, and books the job. Loudachris builds these from $1,500 setup plus $200 per month.
Start with the admin
Workflow automation connects the tools you already run so quoting, follow-up and reporting stop being manual jobs.
Size it with your numbers
The free ROI calculator uses your hours and rates, not a national average, to estimate what automation is worth to you.
Every Loudachris price is a fixed AUD band published up front. See the full pricing page before you enquire, so you know the range before the first conversation.
Sources
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Characteristics of Australian Business, latest release (2024-25 financial year)
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, media release: business adoption of artificial intelligence accelerates in 2024-25
- Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, number of small businesses in Australia (June 2025 data, using ABS Counts of Australian Business)
Figures are reproduced as published by the source organisations and have not been rounded, combined or re-estimated. Last checked 18 July 2026.
Australian AI adoption, answered.
What percentage of Australian businesses use AI?
What is the AI adoption rate for Australian small businesses?
Are small businesses behind large businesses on AI?
Which small businesses are most likely to be using AI?
How many small businesses are there in Australia?
Where should a small business start with AI?
Want to be in the 11% that have started?
Book a free 30-minute AI audit. We will look at where your time and calls actually go, then tell you which single automation is worth doing first and what it would cost.