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Australia
Australia has adopted a voluntary AI Safety Standard alongside Online Safety Act enforcement and Human Rights Commission review of automated decision-making — tracked here daily.
Musk's X says Australia social media ban crackdown undermines international law
Takes aim at eSafety.
Atlassian tightens tracking of staff AI use as other technology firms encourage ‘tokenmaxxing’
Some companies reportedly using leaderboards for employees who used the most AI in their work Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Software firm Atlassian has sought to tighten tracking of its staff’s AI spending by introducing “wallets” with monthly caps of up $2,000 for each employee, amid an explosion in costs at other tech companies. The move by Atlassian, which recently cited AI as part of the reason behind cutti
Queensland and NT reject Labor’s push to ensure that power-hungry AI datacentres use renewable energy
Federal-state stoush comes as rating agency warns that electricity bills could skyrocket Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Queensland and the Northern Territory have rejected the federal government’s plans to mandate that AI datacentres use renewable power, rubbishing Anthony Albanese’s proposals to regulate the booming technology as “underdeveloped ideas that hand increased power to Canberra”. The latest federal-s
I noticed a customer review I think might be fake. In Australia, are businesses allowed to do this?
False testimonials are prohibited under Australian consumer law, writes policy professional Kat George, but they are also very hard to police Read more Australian customer service questions While looking at the website for NannyLane Australia, which bills itself as “the Uber for Nannies”, I noticed some glowing testimonials apparently written by happy parents who’d used their services. But a simple reverse Google image search of “James & Emily T” from Sydney led me to a stock image of a couple,
When the AI bubble bursts, what will Australia do with the tools it built? One man thinks he has the answer
Journalist and author Cory Doctorow is coming to Australia to spread his message – humans will take their jobs back Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When the AI bubble bursts, executives who enthusiastically replaced their staff with AI tools will learn that it takes a “really long time” to replace those lost skills, says Cory Doctorow, a science fiction author and journalist. But those in creative fields should a
Cybercriminals unleash fake Centrelink scam on vulnerable Australians
More than 270,000 malicious emails impersonating Services Australia and Centrelink have flooded Australian inboxes in one of the nation's largest phishing campaigns in years, with the sophisticated attacks specifically targeting the country ... (https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1275#7592)
Services Australia Impersonation Drives Year-Round Credential Theft Operation
Key Points MCTO3001 - Threat operation with Services Australia and Centrelink impersonation campaigns across multiple sectors Infrastructure abuse of legitimate email services (SendGrid, Mailgun, Office 365) with Australian Gov display na ... (https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1275#7593)
Centrelink warning as 270,000 emails sent out in attack related to Medicare, superannuation and tax benefits
Australians are being bombarded with tens of thousands of fake emails impersonating Centrelink and Services Australia in one of the biggest phishing campaigns in years. Cybercriminals are using artificial intelligence to create "super clone ... (https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1275#7594)
Major Australian energy supplier confirms customer data compromised
Origin Energy said it was working to figure out how many Australians were affected by a recent data breach.
Why are OpenAI and Anthropic cheering on regulation in Australia? The answer has global reach
The companies hope to follow in the footsteps of SpaceX, which raised $86bn and soared to a $2.1tn valuation after it listed on public markets in June Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Top US AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI cheered when Australia announced it would set new AI rules. Big tech celebrating limits on their Silicon Valley VC-funded free-for-all might seem counterintuitive but there’s a much broader play than just what happens in one relatively small mark
Who’s suing AI and who’s signing: News Corp sues Brave, Microsoft signs Australian Copilot deal
Plus: New York Times and Chicago Tribune sue Perplexity and Google signs non-licensing AI deals. The post Who’s suing AI and who’s signing: News Corp sues Brave, Microsoft signs Australian Copilot deal appeared first on Press Gazette .
Australia just outlined more ‘AI safety’ priorities, but is the plan actually coherent?
These priorities are mostly old policy initiatives that have until now been de-prioritised for months or even years.
ACMA pledge scheme helps decimate dodgy device listings
Amazon Australia, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and other audited.
French parliamentary committee approves U-15 social media ban
France moves closer to banning children under 15 from social media, while Australia’s experience shows weak age checks, poor enforcement and persistent harms may undermine such restrictions. The post French parliamentary committee approves U-15 social media ban appeared first on MEDIANAMA .
Nine to axe 30 jobs at the Age and SMH due to ‘extreme’ AI disruption
Staff told positions will be cut via voluntary and targeted redundancies as part of ‘evolution’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s biggest media company, Nine Entertainment , has blamed the “extreme state of disruption” from AI for its decision to cut another 30 newsroom jobs at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. On Tuesday, the managing director of publishing, Tory Maguire, told staff the company wa
Fujitsu sells five Australian data centres
To a private equity firm.
New trial of AI-powered traffic lights will be a test for who gets priority on public roads
Australia’s first AI traffic-light trial could cut delays. It also raises hard questions about fairness, safety and who gets priority on public roads.
Government use of automated AI decision-making to be curbed under new Australian rules
New national plan is accompanied by Labor push for digital duty of care legislation Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The use of AI in automated decision-making by government departments and agencies will be subject to tough rules under a new national plan, expected to extend to consumer protections, workplace safety and privacy. As the Albanese government grapples with the rapid growth in the use of artificial int
ANU accused of ‘hysterical’ response to students using AI to cheat as unis scramble to ‘secure’ assessments
Australia risks ‘shipping’ intellectual capability overseas if educational rigour not restored, experts warn Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An academic at the Australian National University has accused it of a “hysterical” response to students using AI to cheat, as tertiary institutions rush to shore up the credibility of assessments. But a colleague warned Australia is in danger of “shipping our national intell
Albanese’s AI speech was a good start. Now Australia must confront these bigger questions | Julianne Schultz
The PM’s vision must look beyond datacentres and copyright to questions of capability, security and public benefit Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Every new technology has a tipping point, when it speeds towards ubiquity, changing the world as we once knew it. In the past six months, artificial intelligence, in its various forms, has crossed that threshold. You can measure it in the billions of dollars being invested; the hope-tinged-with-fear decrees from presidents
What the World Should Learn from Australia’s Social Media Law
Half a year since Australia restricted social media companies from providing accounts to kids under 16, signs of success are beginning to show.
The data centre boom won’t mean higher power prices – if we unlock stalled renewable projects
Could we be thinking the wrong way about surging energy demand from data centres in Australia?
Digital Surveillance Reshapes Fishery Enforcement in Indonesia
In the eastern Indian Ocean, south of Java in the vast sea stretching toward Australia, a fishing vessel slightly alters its course while operating near the boundary of its authorized fishing ground. Nothing appears unusual on deck. Nets remain in the water. Engines maintain a steady speed. To the crew, it is an ordinary day at sea. Yet hundreds of kilometers above, satellites continuously record the vessel’s position. At Indonesia’s Marine and Fisheries Resources Surveillance Station in Cilacap
Notes from the Asia-Pacific region: AI deployment, privacy protections and coordinated oversight converge in Australia
Australia's latest AI governance initiatives, heightened privacy enforcement and increasing regulatory cooperation signal a future in which AI, privacy, cybersecurity and digital accountability are ...
A Human Right to be Fossil Fuel Free?
Australia is a country highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with the weathered, arid continent frequently buffeted by fires, floods, heatwaves and storms. It is also one of the largest exporters globally of fossil fuels, coal and gas. Situated close to Pacific Islands existentially threatened by climate-fuelled rising seas, Australia is a constitutional democracy with an active civil society, an abiding commitment to the rule of international law and this year holds the role of “P
SEAU 2026 : 5th International Conference on Software Engineering and Automation
5th International Conference on Software Engineering and Automation [Melbourne, Australia] [Aug 15, 2026 - Aug 16, 2026]
Australia to Impose Energy and Water Guardrails on Data Centers Amid A.I. Boom
The country will also seek to protect the rights of creators of work used to train artificial intelligence models, as it aims to impose parameters on the growing industry.
Anthony Albanese says he wants to do AI 'the Australian way' – video
For months, artists and activists have been calling on the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to act on the AI boom as datacentres pop up around the country. Today he made a major speech at the University of Sydney addressing copyright, the regulation of datacentres and the future of AI in Australia 'Not up for grabs': Albanese establishes AI office and vows to protect Australian creatives from copyright 'theft' Continue reading...
‘Not up for grabs’: Albanese establishes AI office and vows to protect Australian creatives from copyright ‘theft’
PM lays out plan for datacentre development and rejects prospect tech companies will be given free use of Australian data Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese has promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives against misuse of their work by artificial intelligence models, warning it would be “theft” if writers, artists and musicians didn’t have control of their work or receive
AI may be the toughest challenge Anthony Albanese faces this term. Guardrails are urgently needed | Peter Lewis
Coherent decision-making and internal accountability are critical to meeting this manic moment Anthony Albanese promises fast-track approvals for datacentres to shore up AI investment The University of Sydney was the natural setting for Anthony Albanese to lay out his vision for how Australia should confront the profound economic and social challenges posed by so-called artificial intelligence technology. His time around the jacaranda and sandstone in the early 80s was a seminal marker in the fu
EU considers social media ban for children
The European Union (EU) is considering banning social media for children, following similar efforts seen in the United Kingdom and Australia to restrict children's access to social media platforms. On Monday, a 156-page report given to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested restricting access to social media for children under the age of...
Australia to establish government AI office
To coordinate regulation.
Anthony Albanese promises fast-track approvals for datacentres to shore up AI investment
PM to declare Australia the first country worldwide to bring economic, social, security and environmental issues from AI under single office in major speech Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese says the federal government will introduce faster approval processes for AI projects, including datacentres, across Australia, seeking to shore up investor certainty and maintain community confidence in the rapidly advancing technology . Announcing the creation of
Lowdown: Australian regulator finds major gaps in platforms’ detection of child sexual exploitation
Australia's eSafety Commissioner says major online platforms continue to have significant gaps in detecting child sexual exploitation, grooming and sexual extortion. The post Lowdown: Australian regulator finds major gaps in platforms’ detection of child sexual exploitation appeared first on MEDIANAMA .
Ed Husic says weakening copyright to benefit AI companies would betray Labor party’s ethos
Labor MP says ‘a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work’ was a founding principle of the ALP as media union calls for tougher new rules on AI use of creative work Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Labor MP Ed Husic says any moves to water down copyright law to benefit AI companies would be “going against the ethos” of the party and undermining the principle of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”. Husic also
More than 50% of Australian university assignments used AI. How should unis respond?
A big challenge for universities is distinguishing whether students are using AI to help or as a substitute for learning.
Can Labor save us from the risks of AI? – podcast
The AI revolution is here, and with it a fear that soon it will replace many of us in the workplace. The Australian government is grappling with how to deal with the multi-layered disruption but so far reform has been slow as it weighs up regulation against the claims of investment opportunities an AI boom presents. Could that change on Wednesday when the prime minister delivers a landmark speech addressing the government’s approach to the technology? The chief political correspondent, Dan Jervi
Albanese to compare pivotal moment in AI to renewable energy transition as he outlines approach
Labor sources say the PM will discuss safety concerns in speech this week but will not provide an update on copyright reforms to protect artists Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese will describe the progress of AI as an inflection point for society on par with the renewable energy transition, but is not expected to detail progress on copyright reforms to protect creative industries. The prime ministe
The European Union’s chief is considering social media restrictions for kids under 13
A top European Union official on Monday called for limits to be placed on children using social media as a special EU panel looking into the challenge recommended forbidding access for those under 13 until tech companies can prove their platforms are safe. Growing awareness of the dangers social media poses for young, developing brains has shown up in a wave of new restrictions globally. Australia , the U.K. , Turkey, Indonesia and others have passed bans on kids under 16 or 15 from using platfo
AI companies want to water down Australia’s copyright laws. Artists are outraged, Labor is split
Anthony Albanese will deliver a landmark speech on AI this week as MPs are torn between attracting datacentre investment and protecting the rights of creatives Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates When Anna Funder stood before a pack of journalists at Parliament House this month, she presented herself not just as a writer but also a “victim of crime”. The Stasiland author was using the analogy to illustrate how technology companies have flagrantly “hoovered up” her literary wor