National Science Week 2026 will bring quantum computing out of the lab and into a Chatswood function centre next month, when the Sydney Quantum Academy hosts a free public event exploring how the once-abstract field is becoming a real career path for young Australians.
Quantum Future Talent: From Curiosity to Career runs on Tuesday 18 August 2026 at The Concourse, 409 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, with check-in from 9.30 am and the program running from 10.30 am to 2.00 pm.
Entry is free, though pre-registration is essential, and organisers expect strong demand after last year’s event sold out. The day is aimed squarely at students, parents, teachers and careers advisers who want a clearer picture of what quantum technology actually is and where it might lead.
The headline drawcard is Scientia Professor Andrea Morello of UNSW Sydney, who will walk the audience through the basics of quantum science and where it is likely to show up in daily life, from computing and cybersecurity through to mass communications and drug discovery.
Alongside his talk, Questacon exhibition developer Michaela Ripper will give Sydney audiences their first proper look at Quantum Tomorrow: Imagined Futures, a new immersive exhibition the national science centre has built around the same subject. Visitors can also expect hands-on demonstrations and displays, plus the chance to talk directly with working quantum researchers and current students about what the field is really like day-to-day.
There is a workforce story sitting behind the event as well. CSIRO modelling puts the local quantum workforce at more than 19,400 people by 2045, inside an industry it values at around $6 billion. Universities and research bodies are already positioning themselves for that growth, and several of them will have a presence on the day, including the University of Sydney, UNSW Sydney, Macquarie University and UTS, alongside Questacon, Einstein First, the Australian Institute of Physics, Eigensystems and ANSTO, with more exhibitors still to be confirmed.
The event sits inside the broader National Science Week program, which runs nationally from 15 to 23 August 2026. Last year the festival drew roughly 3 million participants across more than 2,500 events, and this year’s calendar again ranges from serious science communication to the genuinely offbeat. It is backed by the Australian Government together with Questacon, CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association and ABC Science, and the Chatswood event itself has been supported through a National Science Week grant. Full details and the wider program are listed at www.scienceweek.net.au.