Australia will apply mandatory safeguards in AI, according to Lusa

Acompanies specialized in artificial intelligence (IA) should comply with new mandatory protection measures when operating in Australia, the country's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today.

Australia will set up a new AI regulatory body to implement measures to regulate the sector, Albanese added.

“We cannot close our eyes and act like nothing is happening. But what we can do is ensure that this technology is used in the interests of Australia,” he told the press.

The new protection measures shall include the obligation to report the risks associated with the AI and to carry out independent evaluations of the leading models.

“Australia is a pioneer in this area, and we want to ensure that we can make the most of the potential benefits of AI,” the Prime Minister said.

“ But we need to ensure that we do things the right way, and membership of society is absolutely essential,” he added.

On 15 October, the Australian Government presented a bill aimed at combating the “without limits” access of technology giants to children and allowing social media users to stay away from powerful algorithms.

In the “digital surveillance duty” bill, the Labour Government of the Center-Left intends to force Facebook, TikTok or Instagram, among others, to allow users to disable the recommendation algorithms that determine the content displayed in their ‘feeds’, so that they can choose better what they consult.

The text provides that the technology giants are also directly responsible for protecting children under 18 from pornography, online harassment, content that glorifies crime or those that encourage eating disorders.

“The problem is that we let the technology giants test their products in real condition in Australians,” said Communications Minister Anika Wells at the National Press Club in Canberra after presenting the bill to the Australian Parliament.

In question, in the “simple argument” invoked by the minister, the question comes down to the following: “If you create something, you are responsible for the risks it entails”.

“One day (...), we will tell ourselves: ‘I can’t believe that we recently allowed technology giants to have unlimited access to our children’,” Wells said.

In 2025, Australia passed legislation, previously unpublished worldwide, prohibiting children under the age of 16 from accessing a number of social networks. However, data published in August reveal that this age group increasingly uses platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, despite the prohibition.