Australia's Strategic Materials List: 5 Materials
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Australia's Strategic Materials List names five materials: aluminium, copper, phosphorus, tin and zinc. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources publishes it next to the Critical Minerals List, and both were last updated on 20 February 2024. A strategic material is important for the net zero transition and other strategic uses, has geological potential in Australia and is in demand from strategic partners, but its supply chain is not currently vulnerable enough to be critical.
5 of 5
strategic materials that are critical or priority on the U.S. and Canadian lists
Source: Comparison table on this site
0
strategic materials eligible for the 10% processing tax offset
20 Feb 2024
date of the last update to both Australian lists
How do Australia's strategic materials appear on other countries' lists?
All five strategic materials are critical or priority in the United States and Canada, and the EU lists aluminium and copper as strategic raw materials and phosphorus as critical. Australia is the only one of the four jurisdictions that keeps a strategic list outside its critical list, which is one of the main reasons the four lists differ.
| Material | United States (2025) | European Union | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | Critical | Strategic | Critical |
| Copper | Critical | Strategic | Priority |
| Phosphorus | Critical | Critical | Critical |
| Tin | Critical | Not listed | Critical |
| Zinc | Critical | Not listed | Critical |
Sources: Australian Strategic Materials List; other columns from the primary sources behind the comparison page.
Why are these materials strategic and not critical?
The department's test is the same as for critical minerals, with one difference. Strategic materials are important to the global transition to net zero and to strategic applications, specifically the priority technologies in the Critical Minerals Strategy. They have geological potential in Australia and are in demand from strategic international partners. Their supply chains are not currently vulnerable enough to meet the criteria for the Critical Minerals List.
Industry press at the time of the 2023 update described the list as new, and the Chamber of Minerals and Energy referred to copper, nickel, zinc and aluminium being on it. The department's table now carries nickel as a critical mineral, so the five-material list reflects the change made on 20 February 2024.
What does the strategic label mean for support?
The strategic label means Australia will keep supporting extraction and processing and monitoring the markets, but it excludes a material from the processing tax incentive. The Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive pays a refundable 10% offset on eligible processing expenditure from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2040. The department states that minerals on the Strategic Materials List are not eligible, and that eligibility is set by Division 419 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, which the government can change without changing either list. Australian data on the five materials sit in Geoscience Australia's "Australia's identified mineral resources" and the Resources and Energy Quarterly.
Frequently asked questions
What are Australia's strategic materials?
Australia's strategic materials are aluminium, copper, phosphorus, tin and zinc. The government lists them separately from critical minerals because their supply chains are not currently vulnerable enough to be critical.
What is the difference between critical minerals and strategic materials in Australia?
Both lists contain materials that are important to technologies, have geological potential in Australia and are in demand from partners. Only critical minerals also have supply chains that are vulnerable to disruption. Strategic materials are not eligible for the processing tax incentive.
Is copper a strategic material or a critical mineral in Australia?
Copper is a strategic material in Australia, not a critical mineral. The United States added copper to its critical minerals list in November 2025, and the EU lists it as a strategic raw material.
Where can I find data on Australia's strategic materials?
The department points to two sources: Geoscience Australia's "Australia's identified mineral resources" for resource data, and the Resources and Energy Quarterly for market data.
Sources
Read on October 12, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Australia's Critical Minerals List and Strategic Materials List. Read in a browser because the site times out for automated readers
- Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive
- Small Caps: Australia updates list of critical minerals and creates a new list of strategic materials. Press report of the 2023 update
Related topics
The 31 Critical Minerals
Geological potential and 2022 production for each entry.
Australia Overview
How the lists connect to the reserve and the tax incentive.
Compare the Lists
Copper, aluminium and other cross-list differences.
Copper
Strategic in Australia, critical in the U.S., priority in Canada.
