Australia lacks a coherent national strategy to regulate the spread of artificial intelligence in workplaces and the consequences of inaction could dwarf the harms caused by unregulated social media, according to a new report released this week.
The study, produced by the John Curtin Research Centre and backed by the SDA — Australia's largest retail and fast-food union — warned that unchecked workplace AI could intensify worker surveillance, drive unsafe workloads and deepen job insecurity. Its authors are calling on the federal government to establish a national AI taskforce, review the Fair Work Act and mandate human oversight of AI-driven workplace decisions before the technology's footprint becomes unmanageable.
"AI is so much more powerful than social media," report co-author Dominic Meagher told ABC News. "We do not have the luxury of getting it wrong this time."
Dr Meagher stressed the report was not anti-innovation, but argued that workers must sit at the centre of any national framework. "Just because AI makes a decision, it doesn't mean that it's an excuse for the company to sidestep their obligations," he said.
For insurers and brokers watching the regulatory environment evolve, one of the report's central concerns is the absence of overarching legislation governing AI at work. Workplace relations and safety lawyer Shannon Chapman, a partner at Lander and Rogers, said advising clients on AI deployment was rarely straightforward.
"If someone comes to me and asks for advice about implementing biometrics data scanners in the workplace, that's not necessarily a quick or easy answer. It will be jurisdiction specific," Ms Chapman said. "It will depend on the type of data that's being gathered, how it's going to be stored, how it might be able to be used … it's a complex legal framework."
Watch next: Will artificial intelligence take brokers’ jobs?
Federal anti-discrimination, human rights and Fair Work obligations all intersect with state-based surveillance laws, creating exposures that are difficult to map and price. Ms Chapman noted that while consistency on workplace surveillance laws across states and territories would help, new AI-specific employee rights could add fresh layers of compliance complexity for employers.
The report's recommendations include establishing an AI expert advisory panel within the Fair Work Commission, requiring employers to consult workers and unions before deploying AI, and ensuring universal access to AI education and skills.
Notion Digital Forensics managing director Matt O'Kane said most Australian employers were already monitoring staff to some degree for cybersecurity or cyber insurance purposes, often through familiar platforms like Microsoft 365. The concern, he said, is the arrival of more intrusive international tools capable of tracking on-screen activity and keystrokes in real time.
Mr O'Kane pointed to Fair Work cases where companies had crossed the line, including incidents in which staff laptops were effectively turned into covert listening devices while employees worked from home.
"There's a huge trend with technology vendors to introduce AI, and it's easy to see why — we've all tried it, we understand that it can boost our productivity," he said. "But when they introduce AI, we run a risk. Would we want this to happen if this was managed by a person?"
He warned against importing technology designed for very different workplace cultures without proper review. "There's a limit to human monitoring but there's typically no limits to AI monitoring … Just because it's AI, it doesn't remove your personal responsibility."
On Tuesday, Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth told the AFR Workforce Summit that the federal government had completed a workforce "gap analysis" on AI's effects on jobs. Preliminary findings suggest AI has slowed growth in roles such as filing clerks and keyboard operators, but the broader job mix has not shifted faster than usual. A new tripartite forum of government, employers and unions met for the first time on Tuesday to examine trust, capability, transparency, safety and productivity in workplace AI adoption.
For Dr Meagher, the stakes go well beyond any single policy fix. "AI is going to be the biggest change of all," he said, "and we really need to make sure it lifts up everyone."
Adapted from reporting by Bronwyn Herbert and Melanie Vujkovic, ABC News.
Word count: approximately 660 words.
