A system bought in 2026 on a five-year contract will still be running in 2031, after the date by which the Australian Signals Directorate expects RSA and elliptic curve cryptography to be gone. For most organisations the post-quantum transition will not be a project they run. It will be a series of purchases and renewals, each of which either brings the deadline closer or pushes the problem onto the next contract. This guide covers what to require from vendors now.
What is changing, and when
A sufficiently capable quantum computer would break the asymmetric cryptography that protects most of today’s key exchanges and digital signatures. No such machine exists yet. The risk is already live for data with a long shelf life, because encrypted traffic captured today can be stored and decrypted later, an approach usually called “harvest now, decrypt later”.
ASD’s Guidelines for cryptography in the Information Security Manual (ISM) state that RSA, Diffie-Hellman, ECDH and ECDSA will not be approved beyond 2030. Its Planning for post-quantum cryptography guidance sets milestones for getting there.
- By the end of 2026: a refined transition plan that accounts for security goals, risk tolerance, dependencies and the value of the data.
- By the end of 2028: the transition under way, starting with critical systems, highly sensitive or long-lived data, and systems that will be hard to update.
- By the end of 2030: the transition complete.
The ISM applies directly to many government bodies. For everyone else it is the clearest statement of where Australian expectations are heading, and it is what government customers, regulators and auditors will point to.
Why procurement is where this is decided
In software as a service, managed services and cloud platforms, the vendor chooses and operates the cryptography. You cannot upgrade it yourself. ASD’s guidance on post-quantum questions to ask your vendors makes the point directly: an organisation can only transition as fast as its vendors do.
The same guidance flags the harder cases: cryptography embedded in operational technology, building management, physical access systems, network devices and other equipment with long asset lives. There the answer may be a firmware update, or it may be hardware replacement. Knowing which, before you sign, is the difference between a line in the budget and a surprise in 2029.
The minimum requirement for new purchases
ISM-1917 says the development and procurement of new cryptographic equipment, applications and libraries should ensure support for ML-DSA-87, ML-KEM-1024, SHA-384, SHA-512 and AES-256 by no later than 2030. That gives decision owners a concrete specification, which is rare in this area.
Note the detail in the left-hand column. It is not only the traditional algorithms. The lower parameter sets of the new post-quantum algorithms (ML-KEM-768 and ML-DSA-65) and smaller symmetric and hashing options are also not approved beyond 2030. A vendor that says it “supports post-quantum” may be supporting a parameter set with a four-year life.
What to ask in a tender
- Where does the product use asymmetric cryptography? Key exchange, signatures, certificates, authentication flows, firmware signing, data at rest. Ask for a list, not a statement.
- Is there a cryptographic bill of materials? The ISM now includes controls on cryptographic bills of materials (ISM-2082 and ISM-2083), an extension of a software bill of materials that maps each cryptographic library, algorithm and parameter to what it protects. See our guide to asking vendors for an SBOM.
- What is the roadmap, with dates? Which releases add ML-KEM-1024 and ML-DSA-87, and for which components.
- Is the upgrade included? Covered by the subscription or support fee, or a chargeable upgrade, new licence tier or hardware refresh.
- How agile is the design? Can algorithms be changed by configuration, or does it take a new product version? The ISM describes cryptographic agility as a design principle for exactly this reason.
- Hybrid or pure? The ISM does not recommend post-quantum and traditional hybrid schemes, though it does not prohibit them, and notes the eventual cost of moving to a pure post-quantum scheme. If a vendor’s path runs through a hybrid, ask who pays for the second step.
ASD notes that not every vendor will be able to answer in detail yet, and that a vendor’s willingness to engage transparently is itself a useful signal. Score the quality of the answer, not only its content.
What to put in the contract
- A commitment to support the ISM-approved post-quantum algorithms and parameter sets by a named date, for the components in scope.
- Notice of any change to the cryptography used, with enough lead time to test.
- Clarity on whether the upgrade is included in existing fees.
- Responsibility for hardware replacement where firmware cannot be updated.
- A right to exit without penalty if the committed date is missed, in the same way the ISM expects break clauses for other security requirements.
- Access to the cryptographic bill of materials, kept current.
These fit alongside the other clauses in our information security in procurement checklist.
Use every renewal between now and 2030
Most organisations will renew more contracts before 2030 than they will tender. Each renewal is a moment when you hold commercial weight: the vendor wants the extension, and you can make a post-quantum commitment part of the price. A five-year renewal signed in 2026 without one runs to 2031 with no obligation on the vendor at all. Our guide to running a licence renewal as a procurement event covers the timing.
Replacement hardware and upgrade fees belong in the total cost of ownership. To put figures on it, try the five-year cost calculator. For operational technology in particular, see our note on OT and ICS security procurement.
Start with an inventory
ASD’s planning guidance organises the work into five phases, which it calls LATICE: locate and inventory cryptography, assess the value and sensitivity of what it protects, triage and prioritise, implement, and communicate with vendors while educating stakeholders. The procurement angle sits in the first and last steps. Your inventory will be mostly a list of vendors, and your communication will be mostly tender questions and contract clauses.
Frequently asked questions
When does Australia expect organisations to stop using RSA?
The ISM states that RSA, Diffie-Hellman, ECDH and ECDSA will not be approved beyond 2030, and ASD’s planning guidance expects the transition to post-quantum cryptography to be complete by the end of 2030.
Which post-quantum algorithms does ASD approve?
ML-KEM for key encapsulation and ML-DSA for digital signatures, as standardised in FIPS 203 and FIPS 204. ISM-1917 expects new purchases to support ML-KEM-1024 and ML-DSA-87 by 2030; ML-KEM-768 and ML-DSA-65 are approved now but not beyond 2030.
Does this apply to private companies?
The ISM is mandatory for many government bodies and is often passed down to their suppliers. For other organisations it is guidance, but it is the reference point Australian regulators, auditors and government customers will use, and the quantum risk to long-lived data applies regardless of sector.
What should we ask vendors about post-quantum readiness?
Where the product uses asymmetric cryptography, whether a cryptographic bill of materials exists, the dated roadmap to ML-KEM-1024 and ML-DSA-87, whether the upgrade is included in current fees, and whether algorithms can be changed by configuration.
Official sources and update status
- Guidelines for cryptography, Information Security Manual, Australian Signals Directorate (June 2026 release), including ISM-1917 and ISM-1996
- Planning for post-quantum cryptography, Australian Signals Directorate, September 2025
- Post-quantum questions to ask your vendors, Australian Signals Directorate
- Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024-25, Australian Signals Directorate, which lists preparing for post-quantum cryptography among four priorities for businesses
Information status: algorithm approvals and control numbers checked against the June 2026 release of the Information Security Manual on 27 September 2026. The ISM is updated quarterly; check the current release before relying on a specific control.
Renewing or buying a platform you will still be running after 2030? Talk to CYBORIUM about building post-quantum commitments into the contract.
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