The Future of AI Regulation in Australia

PRESS RELEASE 

Laws in Australia and around the world have failed to keep pace with the rise of AI. HTI’s new project, The Future of AI Regulation in Australia, will work collaboratively with civil society, industry and government to address this problem.  

The project will first assess the gaps in Australia’s policy and legal approach to AI. It will then set out a roadmap for reform to ensure Australia’s regulatory framework encourages positive innovation while addressing the real risks of harm associated with AI. 

Recent research conducted by HTI reveals that two-thirds of Australian organisations are already using or actively planning to use AI systems. Given that Australia currently lags many other developed nations in its use of AI, and with the rise of new tools powered by generative AI, this technology uptake is expected to accelerate dramatically.  

AI systems are increasingly being used to make decisions that directly affect people – with the most common use cases in customer service; marketing and sales; clerical and administration; human resources; and risk management. Effective legal guardrails would foster positive innovation in these and other areas, while protecting against harm. 

The first phase of this project will take place over the coming months. This will frame the major legal and policy issues relating to AI and support the creation of a common language for grounding policy and legal discussions. Subsequent phases of this project will look more deeply at priority legal issues and present a roadmap for reform. 

HTI will engage and consult a range of diverse stakeholders, spanning academia, industry, government and civil society. This project will be guided by an expert reference group, which will include representatives from Humanitech, CHOICE, the Gradient Institute, the Tech Council of Australia, and HTI partners Atlassian, Gilbert + Tobin and KPMG.