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What applies to me? →Australia Guidance for AI Adoption (AI6)
Issued by
National Artificial Intelligence Centre, Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR)
- October 1, 2026 · new — New entry for the October 2025 Guidance for AI Adoption. (Cody Maxwell)
- October 1, 2026 · Correction — Rewrote the practical steps, newsletter hook, search description, and audience fields to match the entry's corrected content. (Cody Maxwell)
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.
Applies To
Overview
The National Artificial Intelligence Centre, part of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, published the Guidance for AI Adoption on 21 October 2025. It condenses the ten guardrails of the 2024 Voluntary AI Safety Standard into six essential practices, often called AI6. It also widens the audience from AI deployers to developers as well. The six practices are: decide who is accountable, understand impacts and plan accordingly, measure and manage risks, share essential information, test and monitor, and maintain human control. The guidance comes in two parts. Foundations is for organisations new to AI or using it in low-risk ways. Implementation Practices is for organisations with mature governance, technical development teams, or high-risk uses. The guidance is voluntary and creates no legal duties. It builds on Australia's 2019 AI Ethics Principles, and existing laws such as privacy and consumer law still apply to AI.
Key Requirements
- •Decide who is accountable for each AI system.
- •Understand the impacts of AI use and plan for them.
- •Measure and manage AI-specific risks.
- •Share essential information about AI use with the people affected.
- •Test and monitor AI systems before and after deployment.
- •Maintain human control over AI systems; the guidance is voluntary throughout.
What Your Organization Must Do
- →Map existing controls from the 2024 Voluntary AI Safety Standard guardrails onto the six essential practices.
- →Choose the Foundations part if your organisation is new to AI or uses it in low-risk ways.
- →Choose the Implementation Practices part if you have mature governance, development teams, or high-risk uses.
- →Name an accountable owner for each AI system your organisation develops or deploys.
- →Record that this guidance is voluntary, while privacy and consumer law still apply to AI.
- →Set up testing and monitoring of AI systems both before and after deployment.
Playbook Guidance
Step-by-step implementation guidance for compliance teams.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is the Guidance for AI Adoption legally binding in Australia?
- No, it is voluntary and creates no legal duties. Existing laws, such as privacy and consumer law, still apply to AI.
- What are the six essential practices?
- Decide who is accountable, understand impacts and plan accordingly, measure and manage risks, share essential information, test and monitor, and maintain human control.
- How does it relate to the Voluntary AI Safety Standard?
- It replaces the 2024 standard's ten guardrails with six essential practices. Organisations that adopted the guardrails can map their controls across.
- Which version should an organisation use?
- Foundations suits organisations new to AI or using it in low-risk ways. Implementation Practices suits those with mature governance, technical teams, or high-risk uses.