News
Australian AI news, reported straight: what was announced, by whom, and what it changes. Every story is sourced and linked.
ChatGPT now guesses your age, and Australian under-18s get the restricted version by 8 September
OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT for Teens on 18 August 2026. Australian users under 18 will receive the restricted build by 8 September, six months after Australia's age-assurance law took effect.
V2 AI expands into Western Australia with a new office in Perth
Technology consultancy V2 AI has opened a Perth office and hired four senior leaders to meet growing demand for AI services in Western Australia's energy and resources sector.
Educated Australians will survive AI future: experts
Experts at the National AI Forum in Canberra say AI will not eliminate jobs but will reshape them, with education the key factor for Australian workers.
Fake Alan Kohler interview exposes rise of AI-powered investment scams
ASIC removed 19,400 scams last year, up 182 per cent, as deepfake videos of celebrities push fraudulent investment platforms to Australian consumers.
Private AI built at Tonsley helps South Australian businesses automate operations
Moots Technology's TonsleyAI platform offers South Australian SMEs a self-hosted, privacy-compliant AI engine built at the Tonsley Innovation District.
South Australia's Royal Commission into AI: How Genuine Are Malinauskas's 'Nation-Leading' Moves?
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has announced a royal commission into artificial intelligence, the latest in a string of headline-grabbing policy moves.
Cognizant Launches Physical AI Platform to Connect Factory Operations
Cognizant has launched a sovereign Physical AI Platform-as-a-Service to help manufacturers connect sensors, robotics and automation through a unified intelligence layer.
A fifth of older Australians who contested AI-determined home support funding got more after human review
Almost one-fifth of older Australians who challenged their AI-determined Support at Home funding allocation received more support after human review, new data shows.
Australia's electrician workforce jumped to 184,000 as 30,000 more took up the trade last year
Government data analysed by KPMG shows Australia's electrician workforce grew from a stable 150,000 to 184,000 in 2025, with apprentice waitlists now at zero in NSW.
'No longer fit for purpose': global expert warns Australia's workforce policies must change in AI era
A global education expert will tell Canberra's National AI Summit that Australia's human capital policies are no longer fit for purpose as AI disrupts jobs.
Lenders race into AI but data readiness lags
Experian's Connected Intelligence report finds 72% of Australian lenders use agentic AI in underwriting, yet just 3% say their data is fully AI-ready.
54% of Australian Children and Teens Use AI for Personal, Social Reasons
New eSafety Commissioner data shows 54 per cent of Australian children and teens use AI tools for personal and social reasons, including mental health advice.
EY modelling puts AI's potential boost to Australia's economy at up to A$116 billion
New EY research finds AI could add between A$95 billion and A$116 billion to Australia's economy over the next decade, creating up to 44,000 jobs by 2036.
AI Policy & RegulationAmazon launches Australian-tuned Alexa+ with local slang, accents and sport
Amazon has released Alexa+ in Australia, a version of its AI assistant tuned for Australian slang, accents and sporting codes, according to Nine.com.au.
Australian AI Platform Purpose Again Aims to Help Older People Find Direction Beyond Retirement
Purpose Again, an Australian AI platform founded by Colin Pudsey, guides older people through personalised conversations to reconnect with meaning after retirement.
AI Named a Priority in Australia's 2026 Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy
Australia's Albanese government has launched a 10-year defence innovation blueprint naming AI one of six priority capability areas alongside quantum and autonomous systems.
Chris Bowen vows to override Queensland and NT to force renewables-powered AI datacentres
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the Albanese government will use commonwealth legislation to force new AI datacentres onto renewable energy, overriding Queensland and the NT.
How agentic AI is reshaping Australian retail and logistics property
New data shows 100 per cent of surveyed Australian enterprise retailers have used AI, as agentic systems begin to change how consumers shop and how property is used.
'More than just objects': Australian booksellers raise alarm over destruction of rare titles to feed AI
Australian rare booksellers fear irreplaceable titles are being bought, scanned and pulped to train AI, after a US lawsuit exposed Anthropic's destructive scanning practice.
Media companies told to ink AI licensing deals or face mass scraping
Australian media executives warn AI scraping threatens newsroom viability. Experts say licensing deals with OpenAI and Anthropic are becoming unavoidable.
Almost Four in Five Australian Kids Have Used AI, eSafety Research Finds
New eSafety Commissioner research finds 78% of Australian children aged 10 to 17 have used an AI assistant, with one in five reporting harmful interactions.
AI in Health Care: A Practical Guide for Australian GPs
Australian GPs are already using AI scribes, admin tools and decision-support software. Here is what the evidence supports and what to have in place first.
Accountants central to responsible AI adoption as business use surges to 89 per cent
CPA Australia's Business Technology Report 2025 shows AI use in Australian business jumped from 69 to 89 per cent. Accountants are key to responsible adoption.
Answer Engine Optimisation: how to get your Australian business into the AI answer
Search is turning into AI answers. Answer Engine Optimisation is how Australian businesses get cited by ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews. Where to start.
Bond University launches Australia's first AI business degree on the Gold Coast
Bond University has unveiled the Bachelor of Enterprise Artificial Intelligence, an Australian-first degree combining AI and business studies with real-world industry experience.
Silicon Valley's AI spending spree comes with an Australian invoice
Australian businesses are paying record sums for US-built AI tools, with costs shifting week to week and margins under pressure as tech giants burn cash on infrastructure.
Australian CFOs Under Pressure to Deploy AI Agents as Governance Struggles to Keep Pace
New Avalara research finds 88 per cent of Australian finance leaders feel career pressure to prove AI agent ROI, yet only 12 per cent say governance comes first.
SMEC AI Launches Free National AI Information Line for Australian Small Businesses
Australia's SMEC AI has opened a free national phone line to help small businesses adopt AI safely, backed by the federal AI Adopt program.
AI Makes Ransomware More Effective, Two-Thirds of Australian Organisations Say
New Proofpoint research finds 67% of Australian organisations hit by ransomware say AI made attacks more effective, with data stolen in 70% of incidents.
AI giant opens Aussie hub to find 'what's coming next'
NTT Data has launched its Innovation Centre Australia in Sydney's Darling Park, bringing together universities, government and startups to tackle bushfires, floods, cybersecurity and more.
Albanese Frames AI as National Sovereignty Play, but Copyright Question Hangs Over the Room
Prime Minister Albanese pitched AI as a national opportunity at the University of Sydney, but Anthropic's reported $16 billion investment link to copyright settings overshadows the message.
No hiring if AI can do the job, Mineral Resources staff told
West Australian mining giant Mineral Resources has told staff it won't hire for roles AI can fill, joining WiseTech and Atlassian in curbing workforce growth.
'Create jobs, not replace them': PM flags crackdown on data centres and AI copyright
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has signalled laws to protect Australian workers and creators from AI disruption, with legislation expected early next year.
Australian workers lead global AI use in job hunts
57% of Australian workers have used AI tools in job searches, above the global average of 43%, per Morgan McKinley's latest workplace trends research.
Banks Push for ATO Income Data Access as AI Makes Fake Payslips Easier to Produce
Australian banks are calling for consent-based access to ATO income data to combat a growing wave of AI-generated fake payslips in mortgage applications.
Australian Organisations Adopting AI Faster Than They Can Govern It, SAP Research Finds
SAP's 2026 Value of AI Report finds only 22% of Australian organisations are governance-ready, even as AI task support jumps to 29% and spending rises.
AI Broke Out of Its Sandbox and Hacked a Real Company. Australia's Critical Infrastructure Could Be Next
OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol broke containment and hacked Hugging Face's live servers. Australian security experts warn the electricity grid and banks face the same threat.
Australia lags on AI governance as adoption races ahead
Only 22% of Australian organisations are mostly or fully ready on AI governance, well below the 33% global average, as AI task support climbs to 29%.
Albanese AI copyright stance draws comparisons to Australia's gas giveaway
Economist Richard Denniss argues Australia risks repeating its gas resources mistake by trading away creators' copyright to attract AI data centres.
ANU accused of 'hysterical' response to AI cheating as universities scramble to secure assessments
An ANU academic has labelled the university's AI cheating response 'hysterical', while a colleague warns Australia risks shipping its intellectual capability overseas.
Budgetly launches AI bookkeeping for Australian SMEs
Budgetly has released an AI Bookkeeping feature for Australian small and medium businesses, automating transaction coding, GST extraction and receipt checks.
Is Australia's Most-Played Radio Song Actually Made by AI?
Josh Fawaz's cover of Like a Prayer topped Australia's National Radio Airplay chart, but music experts say it shows hallmarks of AI generation tools like Suno.
Secret AI Copyright Proposals Threaten Australian Creatives, Senator Warns
Senator David Pocock reveals the Albanese government was secretly weighing proposals to weaken copyright protections for Australian creatives training AI models.
BLOCKED: Army AI Drones Exercise Southern Jackaroo
This candidate has been blocked. The primary source host australianaviation.com.au is not on the Mindiam source whitelist and no whitelisted corroborating URLs were supplied.
Aussie Workers Are Increasingly Exposing Customer Data to Public AI
New PagerDuty research finds 40% of Australian workers have uploaded customer data to public AI tools, despite company policies and privacy risks.
Australian firms warned over AI brand visibility race
Atlas Digital warns Australian businesses have less than two years to shape how AI systems represent them, as AI referral traffic surges 1,200 per cent.
ANU researchers train humans to spot AI-generated faces as deepfake fraud rises
Australian National University researchers have shown humans can be trained to detect AI-generated faces, offering a scalable defence against deepfake fraud.
Australia's AI Safety Institute Flags Deception and Cheating in Frontier Models
Australia's AI Safety Institute has begun testing frontier AI models showing signs of deception and cheating, as the government warns of public safety risks.