Battery safety and skills move up the industry agenda
As more hybrid and EV batteries come through Australian workshops, the systems for handling, tracking and recycling them are getting serious attention at a national level.
Standards, training and battery tracking were central to the 2026 Australian Battery Recycling and Manufacturing Summit, held in September at RACV City Club in Melbourne and hosted by the Association for the Battery Recycling Industry (ABRI).
The Best Practice and Future Systems session looked at how Australia can strengthen battery safety, with a focus on industry standards, the skills and training the sector needs, pathways to battery certification and new approaches to tracking and tracing batteries to reduce risks including battery fires. Contributors included Standards Australia, TAFE Queensland, CSIRO and Powering Australia.
ABRI reported that partnerships between industry, researchers, TAFE and other stakeholders are already driving progress in battery recovery, safety and operational standards.
ABRI CEO Katharine Hole said the timing mattered.
“The decisions made now will shape how safely and sustainably we collect, recycle and recover critical battery materials into the future,” she said.
The other big theme was what happens to batteries at end of life. ABRI said circularity in design and decommissioning has shifted from an afterthought to a core requirement, and is now a key condition for development approvals and project financing. Technology on show included AI-powered battery sorting from Oscorp Energy and a new lithium battery refining process from Renewable Metals.
Behind that sits a push to keep more of the value onshore. ABRI said Australia needs to build its domestic refining and processing capability for critical minerals, with demand and value expected to quadruple by 2050. It puts the battery materials recovery sector’s current contribution at $2.1 billion and 19,450 jobs, with potential to reach $6.9 billion and more than 34,600 jobs by 2050.
Live polls run on the day will help set ABRI’s priorities across advocacy, networking, industry growth, promotion and market intelligence.
For more information, visit www.australianbatterysummit.com.au
