The Report of the Senate Select Committee on the opportunities and impacts for Australia arising out of the uptake of AI technologies in Australia of AI in Australia was published on 26 November 2024. There are 13 recommendations with recommendations that high-risk uses of AI be regulated including large language models, which will capture Gen AI. Specifically, th recommendations are as follows:
- That the Australian Government introduce new, whole-of-economy, dedicated legislation to regulate high-risk uses of AI, in line with Option 3 presented in the government’s Introducing mandatory guardrails for AI in high-risk settings: proposals paper.
- That, as part of the dedicated AI legislation, the Australian Government adopt a principles-based approach to defining high-risk AI uses, supplemented by a non-exhaustive list of explicitly defined high-risk AI uses.
- That the Australian Government ensure the non-exhaustive list of high-risk AI uses explicitly includes general-purpose AI models, such as large language models (LLMs).
- That the Australian Government continue to increase the financial and non-financial support it provides in support of sovereign AI capability in Australia, focusing on Australia’s existing areas of comparative advantage and unique First Nations perspectives.
- That the Australian Government ensure that the final definition of high-risk AI clearly includes the use of AI that impacts on the rights of people at work, regardless of whether a principles-based or list-based approach to the definition is adopted.
- That the Australian Government extend and apply the existing work health and safety legislative framework to the workplace risks posed by the adoption of AI.
- That the Australian Government ensure that workers, worker organisations, employers and employer organisations are thoroughly consulted on the need for, and best approach to, further regulatory responses to address the impact of AI on work and workplaces.
- That the Australian Government continue to consult with creative workers, rightsholders and their representative organisations through the CAIRG on appropriate solutions to the unprecedented theft of their work by multinational tech companies operating within Australia.
- That the Australian Government require the developers of AI products to be transparent about the use of copyrighted works in their training datasets, and that the use of such works is appropriately licenced and paid for.
- That the Australian Government urgently undertake further consultation with the creative industry to consider an appropriate mechanism to ensure fair remuneration is paid to creators for commercial AI-generated outputs based on copyrighted material used to train AI systems.
- That the Australian Government implement the recommendations pertaining to automated decision-making in the review of the Privacy Act, including Proposal 19.3 to introduce a right for individuals to request meaningful information about how substantially automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effect are made.
- That the Australian Government implement recommendations 17.1 and 17.2 of the Robodebt Royal Commission pertaining to the establishment of a consistent legal framework covering ADM in government services and a body to monitor such decisions. This process should be informed by the consultation process currently being led by the Attorney-General’s Department and be harmonious with the guardrails for high-risk uses of AI being developed by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
- That the Australian Government take a coordinated, holistic approach to managing the growth of AI infrastructure in Australia to ensure that growth is sustainable, delivers value for Australians and is in the national interest.
Access the full Senate Report here