AI Safety Institute to ensure AI company compliance

The government is establishing the Australian AI Safety Institute (AISI) to evaluate emerging AI capabilities, share information and support actions to address potential risks - including ensuring AI companies are compliant with Australian law.

The AISI will help government keep pace with developments in AI technologies, addressing emerging risks and harms, as well as A

It will also serve as a central hub to share insights and support coordinated government action
giving guidance on AI opportunity, risk and safety for businesses, government and the public through established channels including the National AI Centre (NAIC)

The Institute will work across government to support best practice regulation, advise where updates to legislation might be needed and coordinate timely and consistent action to protect Australians.

The government will also ensure the Institute has capability to ensure AI companies are compliant with Australian law and uphold legal standards around fairness and transparency.

It will collaborate with domestic and international partners, including the National AI Centre and the International Network of AI Safety Institutes, to deliver technical assessments, foster bilateral and multilateral engagement on AI safety, and publish research to inform industry, academia and the Australian people.

Keeping Australians safe from the potential harms of AI will be a key pillar of the upcoming National AI Plan, to be released before the end of 2025.

Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science, Tim Ayres, said adopted properly and safely, AI can revitalise industry, boost productivity and lift the living standards of all Australians.

“But there are two sides to this coin," he said.

"While the opportunities are immense, we need to make sure we are keeping Australians safe from any malign uses of AI.

“The Albanese Labor Government is establishing the AI Safety Institute to provide the capability to assess the risks of this technology dynamically over time.

“The Institute will be the government’s hub of AI safety expertise. It will operate with transparency, responsiveness and technical rigour to make sure Australians are confident to use this game-changing technology safely.”

ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said the announcement of the AI Safety Institute is an important first step to ensuring that AI developers and deployers comply with Australian law and respect the country's standards.

“AI is a rapidly evolving technology with broadening applications and uses," he said.

"Unions welcome the new AI Institute as a vital tool for all regulators to protect against bad-faith uses of the technology.

“Unions welcome the commitment of the Albanese Labor Government to ensuring the AI Safety Institute has the capability to hold developers accountable to Australian law and community expectations. This is crucial for scrutinising and testing models, often developed overseas.

“Working people must share in the benefits of AI. Too many livelihoods have been stolen in the rapid development of these models. The first step in sharing the benefits is protecting against the potential harms.”

The AISI will become operational in early 2026.