AI here to stay, accept it, says Australian government, vows artist copyright protection #
17 July 2026
Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, says he wants to make Australia an “attractive destination” for investment in AI development, during a speech delivered on Wednesday.
Albanese also wants to balance the opportunities and risks presented by the technologies, particularly concerns that AI uptake will result in widespread job losses.
AI will take away jobs, he said, but will also create new and different lines of work.
Among proposals is a coordinated national framework, rather than a state-by-state approach, that will oversee matters including the construction of AI data centres.
In short, data centres will be required to generate their own power, by way of renewable energy sources, and minimise water consumption.
During his speech, Albanese also gave an undertaking to protect the intellectual property[ of Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists:]
An artist’s creative endeavour is their work and their property. No company should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control. That includes the artist’s control of the price and value of their work. Anything less, is theft.
These are words Australian artists and creatives wanted to hear.
Protections will doubtless be included in upcoming legislation, but after rampant marauding of creative material by AI scraper bots in recent years, the move might come too late.
The proposed laws might protect work created in the future, but what of copyrighted content that has already been copied, and digested, by AI agents?
Will AI companies who used creative work in the past be required to offer retrospective remuneration? Will these entities, many of whom are based outside Australia, be the slightest bit concerned by these proposals?
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