AI Regulation in Australia
Australia has no AI-specific law yet, and its direction has shifted twice. The National AI Plan of 2 December 2025 dropped the proposed mandatory guardrails and relied on existing laws. Then on 15 July 2026 the Prime Minister announced mandatory Australian Standards for AI, with legislation planned for early 2027.
Until then, the main guidance is voluntary. The National AI Centre's Guidance for AI Adoption, published on 21 October 2025, sets six essential practices and replaced the 2024 Voluntary AI Safety Standard. It builds on the eight AI Ethics Principles published in 2019.
Existing regulators already apply current law to AI. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission acts on misleading AI claims, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner applies the Privacy Act to AI systems. Organisations should treat the six practices as their baseline while the new standards are drafted.
Key themes
- 1.Guidance for AI Adoption: six voluntary essential practices
- 2.AI Ethics Principles (2019) as the underlying framework
- 3.Mandatory Australian Standards for AI announced July 2026, legislation due 2027
- 4.ACCC and OAIC applying existing law to AI
Regulatory frameworks and guidance(2)
Australia AI Ethics Framework
Australia's 2019 AI Ethics Principles set eight voluntary principles for designing, developing, and using AI. Since October 2025 the government's main guidance has been the Guidance for AI Adoption, which builds on them.
Australia Guidance for AI Adoption (AI6)
Australia's National AI Centre published the Guidance for AI Adoption on 21 October 2025. It sets six voluntary essential practices for organisations that develop or deploy AI, and replaces the 2024 Voluntary AI Safety Standard's ten guardrails. It builds on Australia's 2019 AI Ethics Principles.