Where does your state sit on AI?
Quick question for my colleagues around the country: where does your state sit when it comes to AI?
Nationally, the answer isn't flattering. When the University of Melbourne and KPMG surveyed people across 47 countries (between November 2024 and January 2025), Australia came dead last on believing the benefits of AI outweigh the risks. Only 30% of us thought they did.
Within Australia, it depends on who's doing the measuring. Here's how the states compare on the two measures I could find.
AI use per head of working-age population (Anthropic Economic Index, February 2026) A score of 1.0 means a state is using AI exactly as much as its population would predict.
New South Wales: 1.20 Victoria: 1.19 Queensland, South Australia and the ACT: somewhere between 0.68 and 1 Western Australia: 0.68 Tasmania: 0.32 Northern Territory: 0.12
This index only tracks one AI tool (Claude), so it's a snapshot rather than the whole picture.
Small businesses already using AI (Small Business Loans Australia, late 2024)
Western Australia: 40% New South Wales: 28% Victoria: 26% South Australia: 19% Queensland: 17%
This was a smaller survey of around 200 business owners, and it didn't report Tasmania, the ACT or the NT. Interestingly, the same survey found WA was also the state with the most businesses saying they had no plans to use AI at all. Early adopters and firm sceptics, in the same state.
So WA comes first on one list and sixth on the other. The honest answer is that it depends on what you measure.
There's a big caveat too: this space moves fast. Something measured 18 months ago, or even six months ago, may not reflect what people are doing today. AI tools have changed enormously in that time, and so has how comfortable people feel using them.
Which is why I'm paying attention to what I see on the ground. At conferences this year, I've noticed far more practitioners from the eastern states turning up ready to adopt AI, while plenty of us in the west are still sitting on the fence. A bit ironic, given Virtuosa AI was built right here in Perth.
Why does this matter for psychologists? Because the gap won't stay theoretical for long. The practitioners who learn to use these tools well, with their own judgement firmly in charge, will turn reports around faster, carry less cognitive load and have more time for clinical work. Those who wait may find the catching up harder.
So, I'm curious. Does your state's ranking match what you're seeing? Are your colleagues using AI, cautiously trying it, or steering well clear?