Government to legislate mandatory ‘Australian Standards for AI’
Government announced it will legislate mandatory 'Australian Standards for AI'; to be considered by National Cabinet in August 2026, legislation expected early 2027.
What it means
On 15 July 2026 the government announced it will legislate mandatory “Australian Standards for AI”.
A new Office of AI will sit inside the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The mandatory obligations named so far centre on large-scale data centres and copyright, not on how most businesses use AI.
For a typical business, nothing concrete is in place just yet. We will know more after the National Cabinet in August 2026 and standards are expected to be legislated early in 2027.
Applies to: Large-scale data centres initially