The current state of affairs for AI regulation in Australia

Australia has continued to confirm its position on artificial intelligence in recent weeks with Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind's signature to a joint statement on building trustworthy data governance frameworks to encourage development of innovative and privacy-protective AI. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd gave a speech during the Artificial Intelligence, Law and Society conference in February, advocating for three key principles to be applied when using AI: transparency, regulatory cohesion and regulatory effectiveness.

However, Australia does not currently have specific laws that govern AI, unlike regions such as Europe with its AI Act. Instead, federal government departments have confined AI-specific policies to a number of guidance notes and standards, including the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's guidance on privacy and generative AI models and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources Voluntary AI Safety Standard and proposed mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings.

OAIC guidance on privacy and generative AI models

The OAIC summarized five key principles for AI developers which are subject to the Privacy Act in its guidance. Privacy Act obligations will most likely be applicable to organizations with an annual turnover of AUD3 million or more. The OAIC's AI principles consider how Australian Privacy Principles 1, 3, 5, 6 and 10 apply in the context of generative AI.

Key Principle 1: Accuracy when training AI models