High-purity alumina (HPa) plays a key role in the global energy transition, being an essential material in many high-end technologies. HPa is a purified form of synthetic aluminium oxide (corundum) characterised by a concentration 299.99 per cent of a-al2O3 that finds applications in LED lights, sapphire glass production, catalysts, thermal insulators, and lithium-ion batteries. With a clear trend toward higher purity materials being used in both sapphire and batteries, one of the major challenges to benchmark HPa quality resides in the sensitivity required to quantify, in a precise and reproducible way, the very low concentrations of trace element impurities (sppms) in such a refractory and chemically stable material. There are several inorganic analytical techniques commercially available, such as inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), or glow discharge - mass spectrometry (GD-MS) offering a range of options, costs, and sample preparation methods that can be applied to determine trace contaminants in HPa. To support australian industry, the CSIRO is undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of analytical techniques and methods used to benchmark HPa. The results highlight the need for standardised methods and materials to verify that HPa purity specification is being met. a second stream of research focuses on the advanced characterisation of HPa and some of its precursor feedstocks (eg aluminium salt and clays). The study integrates a range of state-of-the-art multiscale approaches to investigate micro-to-nanostructures, phase transitions during calcination, and the chemistry-crystallographic relationship within single crystals of a-abO3 providing a new understanding of the fundamentals of HPa materials. This work has been supported by the australian Critical Mineral Research and Development Hub whose activities are funded by the australian Government.