Helium quietly keeps MRI scanners, semiconductor factories and quantum computers running. But even though global supply is scarce, Australia may be venting a resource that could help secure its technological future.
For many people, helium means party balloons, squeaky voices and birthday decorations.
But if helium supply runs short, the impact is likely to be felt somewhere much more serious: in hospitals, research laboratories, semiconductor factories and the emerging quantum computing industry.
"Helium's use in non-essential party balloons is obvious, but its role in essential data and computing is not," says Dr Arup George , a researcher in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW.
That role is becoming more important as the world builds more MRI machines, more advanced computer chips, more fibre-optic cables, more AI data centres and more quantum computers.
The problem is that helium is not like many other industrial gases. It cannot be made at scale when needed. It is produced naturally underground over immense periods of time, usually recovered as a by-product of natural gas, and once released into the atmosphere it can escape Earth altogether.
That makes helium a small but strategically important resource - and one Australia may be able to do much more with.
Why does helium matter?
Helium has unusual properties that make it useful in places where other gases do not work as well.
One of its most important uses is in MRI scanners. These machines create very powerful magnetic fields to produce detailed images of the inside of the human body. To do that, they rely on superconducting magnets - coils of wire that can carry electricity with zero resistance, but only when kept extremely cold.
That is where helium comes in. Liquid helium boils at around minus 269°C, making it cold enough to keep MRI magnets superconducting. Many existing scanners hold well over a thousand litres of liquid helium, although newer sealed designs can use much less.
If the helium runs out, a large number of scanners stop working.
"Hospitals around the world ration scans when helium supply gets disrupted. And that might be when people encounter helium most directly - when it isn't there," says Dr George.
Helium is also important to the digital technologies people use every day. Advanced semiconductor chips - including those used in phones, laptops and AI systems - rely on helium at several points in manufacturing, including to cool silicon wafers, flush manufacturing chambers and detect tiny leaks in vacuum systems.
The gas is also used in the production of fibre-optic cables, which carry internet traffic, video streaming and cloud computing services around the world.
"So even if most people never see helium being used this way, they rely on it constantly," says Dr George.
Why future technologies need it
Two of the technologies expected to shape the next few decades - artificial intelligence and quantum computing - already depend on helium.
AI depends on advanced semiconductor chips. The more advanced the chip, the more complex the manufacturing process becomes, and the more precisely temperatures, gases and vacuum conditions need to be controlled.
Quantum computing is even more dependent on extreme cooling. Many quantum processors must operate at temperatures just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. That is colder than deep space and far colder than an MRI magnet.
The large golden, chandelier-like structures often shown in photos of quantum computers are not the computer itself. They are helium-based cooling systems. The actual quantum processor may be a tiny chip near the bottom of the structure.
This is why helium supply is not just a scientific curiosity. It is part of the infrastructure behind the future economy.
Can't we just make more helium?
Not in any practical sense.
Helium forms underground through the slow radioactive decay of elements such as uranium and thorium. Some of that helium becomes trapped beneath the same kinds of rock formations that trap natural gas.
That is why helium is usually extracted as a by-product of natural gas and liquefied natural gas production, rather than mined on its own.
But helium has another unusual feature: it is so light that, once it escapes into the atmosphere, it can drift upward and be lost into space.
That means helium is not just scarce. It is also easy to waste permanently.
"Helium is a non-renewable resource because once its released it leaves the planet entirely," says Dr George. "Every cubic metre vented from a gas plant is gone for good."
A fragile global supply chain
Helium is produced by only a small number of countries.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey's 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries, estimated 2025 helium production was around 190 million cubic metres globally. The United States produced about 81 million cubic metres and Qatar about 63 million cubic metres, meaning those two countries together accounted for roughly three-quarters of global production.
That concentration creates risk. If one major source is disrupted, there are few easy alternatives.
Recent events have shown how quickly that can matter. In March, Iranian strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan gas complex knocked out roughly a third of the world's helium supply - triggering a global helium shortage that has rippled through hospitals and research labs.
Russian helium supply has also been affected by international sanctions on the country, and because helium has no practical substitute in some of its most important ultra-cold applications, shortages cannot simply be solved by switching gases.
In a shortage, critical users such as hospitals and semiconductor manufacturers are likely to be prioritised. But that still leaves countries without domestic supply exposed to price shocks, delays and rationing.
What happened to Australia's helium supply?
Australia used to produce helium.
The country's only helium production facility was at Darwin, as a by-product of liquefied natural gas. But production stopped in late 2023 after the gas field was depleted.
That means Australia now imports every cubic metre of helium it uses.
For a gas that supports medical imaging, advanced manufacturing and quantum research, that dependence matters.
"It means Australia is at the end of a long and fragile supply chain for something that underpins the technologies we say we want to build," says Dr George.
Australia may already be venting a valuable resource
The striking part is that Australia may already be bringing helium to the surface - and letting it go.
Research by the Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre , led by Professor Eric May from the University of Western Australia, has identified significant helium resources in Australian natural gas.
Its report on helium development in Australia says helium can be efficiently produced from natural gas and that some Australian LNG plants are likely venting gas with comparable or higher helium concentrations than the feed used by Australia's former helium producer.
Another FEnEx CRC case study says recovery of helium as a by-product of LNG production is attractive because helium can become enriched during LNG processing, particularly in nitrogen rejection units. It also identifies opportunities for further helium recovery studies at several Australian gas projects.
In plain terms, Australia may not need to discover an entirely new industry from scratch. Some of the infrastructure already exists. The helium is being concentrated through gas processing. The question is whether it is captured or vented.
"Capturing it would turn a waste stream into a strategic supply," says Dr George.
The policy gap
Helium was previously on Australia's Critical Minerals List. But in December 2023, the Australian government updated the list and removed helium, saying the change more closely aligned Australia's list with those of international strategic partners.
Dr George says that decision should be revisited in light of recent global supply disruptions and rising demand from advanced technologies.
Policy options could include restoring helium to the Critical Minerals List, requiring helium recovery assessments for new gas projects, and supporting feasibility studies for capturing helium from existing LNG operations.
The point is not simply to produce another export commodity. It is to avoid permanently losing a finite resource that Australia may need for its own hospitals, laboratories and future industries.
Why sovereign capability matters
Sovereign capability means being able to secure access to something important without relying entirely on overseas supply.
For helium, that could mean more secure access for MRI scanners, universities, research facilities and high-tech manufacturing. It could also support Australia's ambitions in quantum computing, which cannot advance without reliable access to extreme cooling.
There is also a broader strategic issue.
Australia depends heavily on the global semiconductor supply chain. But helium could give Australia something valuable to offer that same supply chain in return. Chipmakers in places such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan need stable helium supplies. Australia has natural gas infrastructure and potential helium resources.
"There is more to be done before Australian helium can supply the chip manufacturers. But starting production is a first step," says Dr George.
The bigger picture
Helium is easy to overlook because it is invisible, odourless and most familiar in a playful setting.
But its most important uses are not playful. They are essential to modern medicine, advanced computing, research and manufacturing.
The challenge for Australia is that helium sits at the intersection of several national priorities: health care, critical minerals, energy exports, advanced manufacturing, quantum technology and strategic supply chains.
It is also a resource that, if wasted, cannot be recovered later.
