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19 stories · most recent 5 August 2026 · this page is generated at build, so it is never out of date

Policy

We passed on the government’s claims about its AI Safety Institute. Then we checked them.

Australia's AI Safety Institute was announced on 25 November 2025 and sits inside the department it advises. Its technical partners include the Australian Signals Directorate. The multi-agent risk project cited as its work was published four months before it existed and funded by the department. And the international network it belongs to has dropped the words AI Safety from its name.

Published

Policy

What replaced the mandatory AI guardrails: five priorities, five ministers, no dates

On 20 July 2026 six ministers jointly named the Albanese Government's AI safety priorities: a Digital Duty of Care, a second tranche of privacy reform, workplace AI safety, consumer law options, and a framework for automated decision-making in federal agencies. Each has a different lead minister and a different legal instrument. None carries a published date.

Published

Policy

The privacy regulator has rewritten its facial recognition guidance around one retailer’s loss

The OAIC has updated its guidance on facial recognition in retail spaces to implement the Administrative Review Tribunal's findings in the Bunnings matter, which covered 62 stores between 2018 and 2021. The Privacy Commissioner says a precautionary approach is required and that each deployment must still be assessed individually. The Kmart determination remains under review with hearings in early 2027.

Published

Research

Four per cent of Australians trust AI companies. The government's own survey says so.

The OAIC's triennial Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey put AI companies equal-last on trust at 4 per cent. Ninety-six per cent want conditions before AI makes a decision about them, and every condition measured in both years rose. We read the 2026 report and set it against the policy Australia actually chose.

Published

Data

Australia has 1,533 AI companies and 23 research papers for every patent

The National AI Centre and CSIRO's census of Australia's AI ecosystem counts 1,533 companies, 25 urban clusters led by Melbourne CBD, patents nearly quadrupling, and a commercialisation gap of almost 23 publications per patent. The numbers, charted from the report.

Published