The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has today released its report on public sector artificial intelligence (AI) use.
The Committee examined the current policy settings for AI use across the Commonwealth Government to determine if they were fit for purpose.
Committee Chair Linda Burney stated that ”these policy and governance frameworks must be equipped to adequately assess the great promise that AI brings but also understand the inherent and significant risks that accompany its use”.
The Committee’s recommendations include:
- that the Australian Public Service Commission introduce detailed questions on the use and understanding of AI systems into its annual APS census
- that a whole of Government working group be established within 12 months to consider what mandatory rules, governance frameworks and legislation will be needed for AI systems across the Commonwealth
- that a statutory Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies be established to give the Parliament fully effective oversight of how the Government and the public service is managing the impacts of AI.
“If effective and coordinated governance frameworks for AI systems are not implemented now, a very real concern of the Committee is that this technology will outpace the Government’s ability to do so in the very near future,” Ms Burney said.
The report can be downloaded from the inquiry website.
Media inquiries
Hon Linda Burney MP, Chair of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Electorate office: (02) 9587 1555
For background information
Committee Secretariat
02 6277 4615
[email protected]
For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions, and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.