The federal government’s National AI Plan is short on detail, but its hands-off approach has nonetheless been welcomed by the tech industry and even drew plaudits from the union movement.
The broad brushstrokes of the plan leaned heavily on optimism, focusing on opportunity rather than risk, and painting a bright picture of Australia’s transition toward an AI economy.
The light-touch regulation was hailed as “an opportunity-first approach” by Tech Council chief executive Damian Kassabgi, finding the right balance of regulation that supports safe use without slowing innovation.
While the plan was light on new initiatives to do drive commercialisation of the locally developed AI, Mr Kassabgi said a new Cooperative Research Centre would help ensure better engagement and cooperation between industry and research.
Among the key practical outcomes the TCA wants to see coming from the plan includes measures to increase the amount of superannuation investment in startups (through changes to RG97 regulations), and an accelerated delivery of a set of national data centre principles to streamline regulatory approvals.
Mr Kassabgi said the Tech Council is still seeking changes to the copyright settings, and says the National AI Plan could result in prioritised access to the NRF for Australian AI companies.
The tech industry’s newest expert peak body, Data Centres Australia said the plan as a positive step toward establishing Australia as a regional hub for AI infrastructure.
But chief executive Belinda Dennett says there is still work to be done to streamline regulatory approvals across federal, state and local jurisdictions.
“Speed to build is the most critical factor in securing data centre investment, so we welcome measures that can help accelerate and streamline the permitting and utility connection process,” Ms Dennett said.
“More flexible and parallel approval processes would be a positive development.”
Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said the nation must now move quickly to deliver the enabling infrastructure to enable faster AI adoption across the economy.
“If we want to remain globally competitive, we need AI-ready infrastructure – modern data centres, world-class compute capacity and fast, reliable connectivity,” Mr Black said.
“Building sovereign capability is critical and backing Australian innovation through targeted R&D investment will help keep talent and ideas onshore.”
The BCA said it remained concerned about references in the plan to regulate AI in the workplace, saying Australia already has comprehensive workplace, privacy, anti-discrimination and safety laws that provide safeguards.
But the Australian union movement welcomed the plan’s clear recognition of the need to put working people’s rights, wages, conditions, and jobs at the centre of the future roll-out of AI technology.
An Australian Council of Trade Unions statement said the plan had underlined government commitment to making sure that workplace laws were fit for purpose in the AI age, and that meaningful consultation would take place over the introduction of AI.
“Workers aren’t afraid of AI but are rightly sceptical about letting it go unchecked, especially when the technology has already been used by big business to undermine wages, conditions, and to wipe out jobs,” ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said.
“Creative and media workers have had their work stolen by large multinational tech companies with no payment. This isn’t fair and fails the pub test big time,” he said.
Global technology giant Microsoft meanwhile applauded the “human-centric focus” of the government’s AI plan and agreed that workers should “have a voice” in shaping how AI might impact their careers.
“We’ve long believed that AI technologies are most impactful when designed and deployed to put people first and propel human ambition,” said Microsoft Australia’s national technology officer Sarah Carney.
“We’re encouraged to see the National AI Plan put everyday Australians at the heart of its vision for how AI will transform our society and economy, with a particular emphasis on skilling and ensuring workers are brought along the journey,” Ms Carney said.
“We support the government’s vision to ensure workers are represented in discussions about AI adoption across the workforce; outcomes for individuals and the economy will be stronger as a result,” she said.
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