AI Regulation in Australia
Australia has no AI-specific law yet. The National AI Plan of 2 December 2025 dropped the proposed mandatory guardrails and relied on existing laws. On 15 July 2026 the Prime Minister announced mandatory Australian Standards for AI, with legislation planned for early 2027. They target large data centres and frontier AI training in Australia, not AI use in general.
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. For organisations that use AI, the six practices remain the practical baseline.
Key themes
- 1.Guidance for AI Adoption: six voluntary essential practices
- 2.AI Ethics Principles (2019) as the underlying framework
- 3.Mandatory standards for large data centres and frontier AI training, legislation due 2027
- 4.ACCC and OAIC applying existing law to AI
Regulatory frameworks and guidance(3)
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.
Australian Standards for AI (Data Centres and Frontier AI Training)
On 15 July 2026 Australia's Prime Minister announced mandatory Australian Standards for AI, with legislation planned for early 2027. They would set minimum requirements for large data centres and conditions for frontier AI training in Australia. A public consultation closes on 9 October 2026.
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.