Audit Committee recommends whole-of-government framework for AI use

The House of Representatives Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has released a report on public sector artificial intelligence (AI) use that recommends a whole-of-government framework.

The committee’s task was to examine the current policy settings for AI use across the Australian 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; and
• 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,” Burney said.

The report can be downloaded from the inquiry website.

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