Australia Establishes Office of AI and Safety Guardrails

The Australian Government has introduced a comprehensive set of AI safety priorities and policy guardrails to regulate the deployment of artificial intelligence across federal agencies and the private sector. Central to the initiative is the creation of a new Office of AI within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to coordinate policy regarding economic development, safety, and regulation.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland is leading the development of a framework for automated decision-making within the public service to ensure human responsibility remains in the decision chain and to prevent errors similar to the Robodebt scandal. To hold technology companies accountable, the government is legislating a digital duty of care for safety by design and pursuing a second package of privacy reforms. Other priorities include addressing retail surveillance pricing, managing data center infrastructure impacts on water and electricity, and ensuring workplace safety through the Artificial Intelligence Workplace and Employment Forum.

These efforts build upon the December 2025 National AI Plan and the ongoing work of the AI Safety Institute, which partners with the CSIRO and the Gradient Institute on frontier AI testing. While Digital Rights Watch welcomed the focus on privacy, critics argue the priorities are repurposed initiatives and lack coherence following the early 2026 removal of an AI expert body and mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI.