AI in Australia's Interests

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivered a speech at Sydney University framing AI as a national opportunity, drawing parallels to past Australian innovations like Medicare and the social media ban for under-16s. He urged the nation to apply its values to shape AI development, warning that delaying action could repeat the mistakes made with social media platforms.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respect to elders past, present and emerging. It’s great to be back at Sydney University, a place that holds so many fond memories. When I was studying economics here in the 1980s, the world was being taught the meaning of economic rationalism. Thatcherism in Britain, Reaganomics in the United States. Yet here in Australia we were making a different choice and moving in a different direction. Because while other nations were being remade by a philosophy which held there is ‘no such thing as society’ . Australia was building what has become one of the truest expressions of our society, and the duty we owe to each other as members of it, I speak of course of Medicare. That was an act of economic reform, of social justice – and a statement of national ambition. In creating Medicare, Australia didn’t beg or borrow from elsewhere. We built for the best, by building for ourselves. That thread runs through our national story. As innovators and inventors, in science and research, in agriculture and energy. And in democracy, progress and fairness too. Back when the industrial revolution was fundamentally altering the shape of the economy and the nature of work the minimum wage and eight-hour day were radical experiments. Today, those Australian ideas are rights that workers have fought for and won around the globe. We were the first country in the world where women could stand for Parliament and vote in elections. And these were free and fair elections, conducted by secret ballot - something other democracies called ‘the Australian ballot’. In the 1990s, universal superannuation was controversial. Today, in nearly every meeting I have with foreign leaders and international investors alike, they raise our super system as world-leading. In September 2024, when I announced that our Government would be implementing a Social Media Ban for Australians under the age of 16 that too was seen as radical. We were told it was too late to act and too hard to implement. That its opponents were too powerful to listen, or change. We understood the difficulties we were up against. But we also knew that our action would send a signal and set a standard. It would start conversations within families and friendship groups. It would help parents and teachers talk to young people about the harmful impacts of social media, with government and the law as back-up. Australia’s social media ban started these same conversations right around the world. By the time I was at the United Nations in September last year, countries were seeking us out to learn about the approach that we were taking. Today, more than 20 nations have implemented or are implementing social media age restrictions of their own. And many more are having the discussion. That is a credit to the courage of Australian parents, people who channelled unimaginable grief into a selfless call for action. And it is proof of what Australia can do, when we back ourselves. When we apply our enduring values to the challenges that are presented by new technologies. We can set a standard that changes the way the world looks at an issue and deals with it. And to take that example of social media one step further, imagine if the world had acted a decade ago. Imagine the difference it would have made if these limits had been put in place when the world first grasped the risks of these platforms. When we first understood their reach and indeed their power. That is the opportunity – and the choice - we have now with Artificial Intelligence. From smartphones to rooftop solar, Australians have always been enthusiastic adopters of new technology. And AI is of course already part of our daily lives. Not as a novelty, or a search tool. It’s changing the way our universities teach and the way students learn. It’s helping small business owners cut the time they spend on paperwork. It’s driving productivity and it's driving discovery. It’s building new screening tools for cancer and disease. It is a critical – and urgent - innovation priority for our defence force and security agencies. No Government can turn back the clock, or press pause on all of this. Nor would we want to. That would only mean cutting ourselves off from the opportunities which are there to be seized and leaving ourselves open to risks created elsewhere. The fact that we cannot stop change, does not render us powerless, far from it. Our power, our agency, our choice lies in embracing change and shaping it. Not just adopting or accommodating AI. Designing it, making it, building the capability right here. And building our sovereignty – and our economic resilience as a result. That’s why we are serious about attracting frontier AI investment to Australia. Because we want AI to support and create good jobs, not replace them. All of this is a bigger challenge - and a bigger opportunity - than social media, no question about that. But not only are we coming to the issue earlier, we have more than time on our side. We have the advantage of geography. The expansion of AI requires a physical, material footprint. It needs our land and energy and computing power to operate. That means we can set the terms, we can determine AI’s social licence. But we have to do it now. We cannot revisit this issue after companies have built whatever they want, wherever they want, and try and then re-open negotiations. This is our time to decide what AI looks like here in Australia. It is not a question of ‘if’ or ‘when’ AI will transform our economy, we are past that. The question that matters, the choice that we have - is how. How we apply our enduring values of fairness and opportunity to make this technology work for us. For workers and communities, for our economy and our environment, for our creative industries and media. This is about Australia shaping the future, rather than letting the future shape us. Our nation is home to global leaders in AI - and I am pleased so many are here with us today. But you do not need to be an expert in AI to have a say or a stake in it. We are all involved. Because the real issues AI presents are not technical ones - they are economic ones, legal ones, social ones, and as Pope Leo has made clear in his superb first Papal Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas , there is also moral and spiritual ones. They are tests of our national values and our national interests. And tests of our national resolve, co-operation and ambition. If we act now, if we mobilise our resources and co-ordinate our efforts. If we move with the urgency that the speed of this change demands. If we build to match the scale of the opportunity that this moment presents. And if we do it the Australian way, true to our values and our standards. We can make AI work in Australia’s National Interests. Last week, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations published real-time, data-driven analysis of AI’s impact on the labour market. The first research of this kind by any government anywhere in the world. It found that while some roles are changing, graduate employment is high. Software and tech jobs are growing. Nationwide, unemployment remains of course near historic lows. And participation is at record highs. Our skilled and diverse workforce is just one of the reasons that the world is queuing up to invest in Australia. Consider what international investors look for – and then think about what we have: World class universities, producing skilled graduates and high-quality research. The traditional resources, critical minerals and rare earths that are essential. The space to build. The sunlight to power affordable, renewable, reliable energy. Strong bonds with the fastest growing region of the world in human history. A legal and financial system at the top of the global ladder for integrity, the security of transactions, timeliness of payments and smart use of technology. And – underpinning it all - a stable democracy. Truly, there is nowhere else you’d rather be than Australia. Just as our Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda is about making the most of these national strengths making more things here, to make ourselves more resilient and more sovereign we must bring this same ambition to the opportunities of AI. We cannot settle for a short-term boom in capital expenditure and construction. We must create a new generation of good, secure jobs for our economy. And while the world is looking to us, we know it won't wait for us. If we hang back, or stand still, this will run right over the top of us. And if we descend into self-doubt, or wander out into the global market as a disparate collection of states and councils and companies and firms, rather than one country, then others will write the rules and - maybe - they will play by them. That would not only risk the integrity of Australian artists and journalists. It would mean subcontracting our sovereignty and security to the control of foreign monopolies. And relegating our workers and our economy to the last link of the digital supply chain. We cannot - and we will not - accept that for Australia. The inescapable lesson of the global instability of the 2020s, is that if we are always dependent on someone else, somewhere else, we will always be vulnerable. This is true for resources and technology alike. It is why we legislated to keep the NBN in public hands. So that even as communications technology is increasingly distributed amongst different networks and overseas interests, Australians retain sovereignty over our high-speed internet. Our great country can be much more than a data warehouse for AI products made overseas. We can do much more than manage investment in ideas from elsewhere. We can lead in everything from cybersecurity and biotechnology to advanced manufacturing. This is why we want Australia to have more of a stake in where AI is made – and how it is made. We want great universities like this one, leading the way. And we want more Australian companies and global firms developing AI here. To boost our sovereign capability. To strengthen our national security. And build our economic resilience. Today I announce that to seize and shape and share the generational opportunity that AI represents our Government will establish a set of Australian Standards for AI. In March this year, we announced a set of expectations for large AI data centres. This will bring them into one regulatory framework. Clear, consistent and mandatory. I will seek agreement on this approach from Premiers and Chief Ministers at National Cabinet I'm convening next month. We will aim to bring the legislation to Parliament early next year. We will consult closely with industry and our trading partners to design a framework for faster decision-making, better supporting infrastructure and genuine community engagement. It is not our goal to try and legislate for every possible eventuality or risk. That only creates the risk of Australia missing out on investment altogether. This is about having the flexibility to keep pace with change – and get out in front of it. So Australia can draw on and learn from what other countries are doing. And deal with issues in real time, without the bureaucracy having to contemplate every modification. This is about building Australians’ confidence and trust in AI and our nation’s capacity to manage it. Ensuring that our national interests and our national security are protected. And providing the certainty for growth, for jobs and for investment. Setting the terms means we can put in place the strongest possible protection for Australian artists and Australian media. As a Government, we make a wide range of important, factual information available online. Whether it is disaster warnings or travel advisories, we want it to reach the widest possible audience. So that even if Australians aren’t going directly to Disaster Assist or Smart Traveller, they are still getting up to date, accurate information. We will continue to do this - as will many other businesses and organisations. But let me make this crystal clear: not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs. Not at all. Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work. Our laws will spell that out, plain as day. 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. No country has got this right yet. Nowhere do artists or rights holders have sufficient control of their work, when it comes to AI training. That is why the best way to secure the strongest copyright protections for Australian artists is for Australia to be active and involved. To build the best possible solution for ourselves. And to preserve the creativity that is fundamental to who we are to our national identity and the journalism that is essential to our democratic society. Our Australian standards will also set clear rules for large data centres: where they are built – and the power and water they use. We have a continent to ourselves, one of our big advantages. We have more than enough room for new data centres, without them competing with new housing. And we will work with every level of government to see common sense prevail. We know that companies will need to invest in skills and training to be successful. And we know they will need energy too. We will create a legal obligation for the next generation of large-scale data centres to underwrite new power supply. To pay their full share of grid connection, so no costs are passed on to homes or businesses. And to put at least as much energy into our grid as they take out of it. To be net-generators, not net-users. To build new renewable generation – and firming – to strengthen our national energy resilience. And ensure data centres do not increase power prices for Australians. Australia is the sunniest continent on earth but we're also the driest. Which is why our rules will require data centres to minimise their water use, maximise their energy efficiency, and pay for any additional water infrastructure required. These location, energy and water obligations take in every level of government and their overlapping powers. Which is precisely why we need national standards. So every level of government is on the same page and driving to the same outcome. Every country on earth is grappling with these challenges right now. Australia will be the first country in the world to bring these issues into a single, national framework. And getting this right will enhance our appeal to international investors. By delivering greater clarity and speed for approvals. And a streamlined process for verifying compliance. It also imposes a really important discipline on Government. AI touches on the work of every Minister and Department, so it is only natural that, up until now, our response has been issue-by-issue, sector by sector. But just as Government developed co-ordinated approaches for other significant technologies: from civil aviation in the 1920s to genetics in the 1990s we must do this with AI as well. Effective today, I am establishing The Office of AI in my own Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. It will work closely with the Minister for Industry and Innovation, Tim Ayres. And the Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Andrew Charlton. To co-ordinate the design of our new Australian Standards. And to bring together the work that Ministers across Government are undertaking. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy is working with his state and territory counterparts and energy market bodies. The Attorney-General, who is with us today, has been facilitating consultation on copyright and artist protections where AI training is involved. The Treasurer will have responsibility for the pivotal role of AI in our productivity agenda. The Minister for Employment is engaging with employers, workers and unions on AI’s role in the workplace. And the Education Minister is meeting with his counterparts literally today, to discuss the impact of AI in schools. This is in addition to ongoing work in everything from the design of our digital duty of care, by the Communications Minister, to the risks that chatbots pose to children to the intersection of AI and skills and manufacturing. And – importantly – AI in defence and national security. This year’s National Defence Strategy identified AI and machine learning as holding, to quote the strategy; ‘the most significant potential for technological disruption’ in the years ahead. We know that both extremists and state actors already use AI to create propaganda aimed at young people - and to spread disinformation that targets democracies. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs are working closely with their agencies – and with our Five Eyes Partners – on these matters of national security. And the fact that we're one of these five eyes nations gives advantages for what's ahead. I was the first member of my family to go to university. And like most of the people I went to school with, I sat my last HSC exam on the Thursday and went into full-time work the following Monday. When I started at the Commonwealth Bank Branch in Holme Building, about 100 metres from here, my first task was to try and convince customers who were coming in with their passbooks and to convince them of the need to use this new contraption called an ATM, a hole in the wall. Our target, our KPI, was if I could convince 20 per cent of people to abandon the old paper passbooks and to trust this key card, as it was then, put it into the wall and get money to pop out, that was the target. I'm old but not that old. None of us could have imagined a world where most people did their banking from a phone you've got in your pocket. Now, when I was working at the bank, I remember people telling me, “Oh, that’s a good job you’ve got”, and one of the reasons why my mum encouraged me, because it was publicly owned, of course, so you were getting a job that was secure for the next 30 years. This was still the expectation back then, that you’d have one job, one career, work your way up. One day I might get to be manager of a local branch or something like that. You'd have one employer. Now, that world is long gone. Wave after wave of technology and economic change have re-defined it. Australians studying here or starting in the workforce today don't expect – or want – one job for life. But what has not changed – what will never change - is the value and importance of secure and fulfilling work. A job that gives you a stake in the economy, the stability to plan for your future and the opportunity to better yourself. Now, we should not treat AI as a threat to good jobs - we must use it as an instrument to help create them. That is the responsibility, the challenge and the opportunity facing our country. And if we move with purpose now, if we back ourselves. If we trust in our values and invest in our people, if we set our national standards high then I have every confidence that Australia can seize this moment and make it our own. We can make AI stand for Australia’s interests and I hope to do so.