The Albanese government has confirmed that major artificial intelligence companies will be captured under its Digital Duty of Care framework, marking one of the most significant steps yet in Australia's effort to regulate the fast-moving AI sector. The announcement comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeks to demonstrate his government is keeping pace with a technology reshaping economies and global security.
What the Digital Duty of Care Would Require of AI Firms
Under the proposal, large AI companies — including private players such as OpenAI and Anthropic — could be required to conduct formal risk assessments and publicly report on the consequences of their systems under Australian law. The framework would shift the burden from responding to individual complaints after harm occurs, to actively preventing those harms in the first place.
The broader package of consumer protections the government is promising includes stronger privacy laws for personal data, rules preventing companies from using AI to adjust prices based on a buyer's wealth, and a new framework governing the use of automated decision-making by federal agencies including Centrelink. Full details of the reforms have not yet been released.
The Digital Duty of Care proposal was originally announced alongside Labor's social media ban for children under 16, and the government has signalled it wants to move faster on AI regulation than it did in responding to the social media boom.
AI and National Security: Charlton's Case for Keeping Data Onshore
Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton framed the push in terms of both economic urgency and national security, arguing that AI is the defining technology of the current era as the United States and China compete for dominance.
"This is the most important technology of our lifetimes, and we face a question as a nation about whether we want to have it in Australia," Charlton said. "If we're renting it from abroad, that means we are always paying foreigners for this technology."
Charlton also stressed the security dimension, noting that data centres store sensitive personal information including medical records and photos. "Having that data in Australia has value to us," he said. The remarks follow Albanese's keynote last week flagging new laws to ensure the data centre construction boom — which has provided a boost to Australia's otherwise sluggish economy — does not place excessive strain on energy or water supplies.
Political Pressure and Industry Pushback
The timing of the announcements is not coincidental. Labor faces its national conference this week, where unions and progressive activists are expected to push for more interventionist approaches to technology and the economy. The government is attempting to balance those demands against its stated goal of attracting greater AI investment to Australia — a tension that sits at the heart of Australia's shifting political landscape.
The duty of care reforms have drawn criticism from a broad coalition including technology companies, privacy advocates, and free speech groups. Critics warn the laws could make it practically impossible to maintain an anonymous online account and may effectively resurrect elements of Labor's previously abandoned misinformation legislation.
Opposition Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume dismissed the government's approach as light on substance, saying Albanese's recent keynote speech "was given an awful lot of hype but really there was very little to it." She argued the government had failed to address lowering barriers to entry, cutting energy prices, or upskilling workers for the AI economy.
Victoria Moves Separately on Trolls and Mental Harm
Separately, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan on Sunday announced state-level legislation that would make it easier for parents to sue AI or social media companies for mental harm caused to children. The proposed laws would also grant the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal powers to force digital platforms to reveal the identities of anonymous users — so-called de-masking powers aimed at online trolls.
"They feel powerless," Allan said, referring to parents. "How quickly kids become obsessed with these online platforms … I see it in my own household."
Together, the federal and state-level moves signal a coordinated, if not yet fully unified, push by Australian governments to assert greater control over the digital environment — even as larger nations and global tech giants continue to set the broader rules of engagement.
