The Australian government will impose strict rules on the use of artificial intelligence in automated decision-making by federal departments and agencies under a new national plan. The plan is expected to extend to consumer protections, workplace safety, and privacy, as the Albanese government responds to the rapid growth of AI and a boom in datacentre construction.
New rules prioritize fairness, accuracy, and transparency
Senior ministers have begun drafting rules to ensure safety is built into AI processes inside government, with a focus on fairness, accuracy, and transparency. Federal departments and agencies still use automated decision-making in some service delivery functions, raising concerns that increasingly sophisticated AI systems could replace more human-led processes. The illegal robodebt scheme highlighted the unreliability of some automated processes, but the rise of AI is already transforming data use across the economy.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland will lead the development of the new rules, as AI giants including Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google eye major developments in Australia. The government is also progressing legislation to create a digital duty of care, designed to put the onus on AI companies to build in safety features and proactively address potential harm. This work is led by Minister for Communications Anika Wells.
Privacy reforms and workplace AI safety
A second round of reforms to privacy laws is planned, billed as efforts to “responsibly strengthen, modernise and simplify Australia’s personal data protection laws.” It will include rules for personal data protection. The final element of the work plan, announced on Monday, includes a focus on AI safety in the workplace.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used a major speech last week to announce plans for a new Office of AI within his department, part of a whole-of-government approach to managing and maximizing opportunities from the new technological frontier. He promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives against misuse of their work and announced plans for rules around large energy-intensive datacentres.
Datacentre regulations to be legislated from next year
Set to be legislated from next year, the national rules will govern where massive datacentres can be built. Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton said on Sunday that the pace of datacentre construction is already proving challenging for governments worldwide. “We already have more than 200 datacentres in Australia,” he told ABC TV. “Those datacentres consume electricity equivalent to about 2% of our energy grid, and there are projections that could grow very rapidly over the next 10 years, potentially even triple over the next 10 years.”
“The government has been very clear that we are implementing this world-first AI datacentre standard, and that standard will make sure that local communities are supported, that they don’t face the negative impacts of these datacentres looming over them, being too close to houses, too close to schools, making sure they don’t push up power prices for Australians, making sure they don’t consume drinking water,” Charlton added.
Opposition criticizes approach as insufficient
Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume told Sky that the government’s approach to regulating AI was insufficient, describing Albanese’s speech as lacking detail. “Talking about regulating AI by introducing rules for datacentres is a little bit like saying, ‘Well, I’ve regulated the fishing industry by setting up a licensing regime for building boats,’” she said. “There’s so much more to it than that.” Hume added that “overregulating them could, in fact, be a problem because it’s not just about setting up certainty, it’s also about alternative opportunities.”
