Australia has created a National AI Office. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also promised new copyright protection for creatives in a speech in Sydney.
Albanese announced the plan on Wednesday at the University of Sydney. the guardian reported. His government presented it as an important speech on AI. It covered copyright, data center rules and a new central office to coordinate AI policy.
The AI Office will report to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with immediate effect. The government called Australia the first country to bring together the economic, social, safety and environmental issues of AI under a single framework.
The office will work with Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres and Assistant Science Minister Andrew Charlton. It’s going to design Australian AI standards and coordinate work across government.
Copyright and creatives
On copyright, Albanese promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives. He said using his job to train AI without permission or payment would amount to theft.
“Let me make this very clear: not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs,” he said. “Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work.”
“No company should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the control of the artist,” he added. “Anything less is theft.”
The government has ruled out an exemption for data and text mining. That rule would have allowed AI companies to train models with Australian content without paying. The cabinet is still discussing copyright reform. The government will not legislate it until early next year.
New rules for data centers
Albanese also established binding national standards for data centers. The rules would cover where operators can build them and his energy and water use. He said they should not compete with housing for land or increase electricity prices for consumers.
The next generation of large centers would face the legal obligation to subscribe new power supply. They would pay their full share of the grid connection, so no costs will be passed on to homes or businesses. They would also have to put at least as much energy into the grid as they take out.
The facilities would have to generate renewable energy, reduce water use and increase energy efficiency. The government said the framework would speed up investment decisions. It would also establish nationally consistent standards for how and where operators build them.
Industry and policy response
Annabelle Herd, chief executive of the Australian Recording Industry Association, welcomed the speech. It said its members wanted to sign licensing agreements with artificial intelligence companies.
Jeff Bleich, general counsel at Anthropic, said the company respected the process set out by the prime minister. He said Anthropic took seriously its responsibility to meet the government’s terms. The company had previously cited Australia’s political uncertainty as an impediment to investment in the national market.
Microsoft Australia president Jane Livesey said users would embrace AI if they trusted it was “safe and well-governed”. Bran Black, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, welcomed the speech. He warned against rules that go “too far” and divert Australia from other countries.
Former Industry Minister Ed Husic criticized the pace. On ABC radio, he said the government had responded more quickly to a food tampering scare than to high-risk AI. “We cannot approve two parliamentary mandates without having some concrete security barriers,” he said.
Albanese compared the moment to the arrival of social media. He said governments should have set stricter rules for technology companies sooner. The government aims to legislate the changes early next year.
