When people think of Australian tech hubs, they think of Surry Hills, South Yarra, or maybe Fortitude Valley. Canberra rarely makes the list. But if you look at what’s actually happening here — the talent pipeline, the government contracts, the cyber security cluster, the quality of life — the city starts to look less like an afterthought and more like one of the country’s best-kept secrets for building a tech business.
The cyber capital
This one isn’t a secret anymore. Canberra is home to the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and a growing cluster of private cyber firms that orbit around them. If you work anywhere in the security space, the concentration of expertise and contract opportunities in Canberra is unmatched in Australia.
But the cyber cluster has a second-order effect: it attracts technical talent. Developers, engineers, and analysts move to Canberra for government roles, and many eventually branch out — starting consultancies, building products, or joining startups.
Government as a launchpad
Yes, government is everywhere in Canberra. But that’s not a downside for tech — it’s an advantage. Federal agencies are modernising their digital infrastructure, and they need help. The Digital Transformation Agency, Services Australia, the ATO — they’re all running major technology programs.
For small tech firms and freelancers, government contracts are a reliable revenue base. You can build a sustainable business on two or three agency relationships, then use that stability to invest in your own products or expand your team.
The talent equation
The Australian National University produces a steady stream of computer science and engineering graduates. The University of Canberra’s design programs are well-regarded. And because Canberra’s cost of living is high but its salaries are higher, the city attracts experienced professionals who want a better quality of life than Sydney offers — without the pay cut.
For small teams, this matters. You can hire strong junior talent locally and attract experienced people who are relocating from larger cities.
Quality of life as a competitive edge
This is the part that doesn’t show up in investment reports but matters enormously to the kind of people who build good things.
Canberra is a 20-minute city. You can live close to work, close to nature, and close to everything you need. The lake, the mountains, the cycling infrastructure, the lack of traffic — these things compound over years into a genuinely better working life.
When you’re recruiting for a small team, “we’re based in Canberra and here’s why that’s great” is becoming an increasingly compelling pitch. Especially post-pandemic, when location flexibility means your team chose to be here.
The missing piece
What Canberra has lacked is the connective tissue that makes tech scenes thrive: the casual collisions, the shared spaces, the events where people from different companies and disciplines meet and swap ideas. The city has the talent and the opportunity — it just needs more places where that talent can come together.
That’s part of why we built Canberra Office. A space where the developer building a SaaS product can grab coffee next to the UX designer working on a government contract, and the startup founder running a team of four can book a meeting room that doesn’t cost a fortune.
Canberra’s tech scene is already here. It just needs a place to sit.