Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has established a new Office of Artificial Intelligence within his department as the Federal Government moves to centralise Australia’s response to the rapidly expanding technology.

The Office of AI will sit inside the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and coordinate policy across areas including investment, data centres, copyright, national security, education and jobs.

Albanese formally announced the office during a speech at the University of Sydney today (15 July), arguing the government must move beyond its existing “issue-by-issue, sector-by-sector” approach.

The government claims Australia will be the first country to bring the economic, social, security and environmental impacts of AI under a single national framework.

Albanese described AI as “a bigger challenge and a bigger opportunity than social media”, warning Australia must act now to determine the technology’s “social licence”.

The office will work closely with Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres and Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton to develop new Australian AI standards and coordinate work already underway across government.

The standards are expected to be legislated in the first half of 2027, following consultation with states, territories, businesses, unions and community groups.

Albanese said a more consistent approach could make Australia more attractive to international investors by delivering faster approvals, clearer requirements and streamlined compliance.

The framework will cover the rapidly growing data centre sector, where states and territories currently apply different planning and approval processes.

Large-scale data centres will be required to underwrite new power supplies, pay their full share of grid connection costs and put at least as much electricity into the grid as they consume. Operators will also be required to minimise water use and fund additional water infrastructure where necessary.

The government is also facing pressure over copyright laws as AI companies seek greater access to Australian books, music, journalism and other creative works for model training.

man playing guitar under spotlight

“Not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs,” Albanese said. “Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work. Anything less is theft.”

The Australian Recording Industry Association welcomed the comments, with chief executive Annabelle Herd calling on AI companies to begin negotiating licensing agreements with creators.

Anthropic also backed the consultation process, saying “societal-level solutions” would be needed as AI reshapes economies, democracies and national security.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor criticised the office as additional bureaucracy, while opposition digital economy spokesman Aaron Violi said it was “three years too late”.