Australia's AI inquiry closes submissions on 14 September
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd · · Updated
A joint parliamentary committee is taking evidence on how AI should be governed in Australia, including how businesses actually use it. Submissions close on Monday.
The short version
- The Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence is taking written submissions until 14 September.
- The committee reports by 30 November, and Australia still has no AI Act.
- A short page on how you use AI, and where it has cost you, is worth more than a general opinion.
A joint parliamentary committee is taking evidence on how AI should be governed in Australia, including how businesses actually use it.
What is the Australian AI inquiry?
The Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence was appointed on 20 August and is examining the economic, legal, security and social dimensions of AI, with written submissions open until 14 September.
Why does the inquiry matter for your business?
The inquiry matters because Australia still has no AI Act, and the committee sits in that gap, which makes its report one of the inputs to whatever comes next. Government has worked through existing law and voluntary guidance, with mandatory AI standards expected in 2027 legislation.
Most of what an inquiry like this hears comes from law firms, universities and large enterprises. Very little comes from a 60-person business that wired a chatbot into its quoting process and found out where it breaks. If you want rules a business your size can actually comply with, that account is the useful one.
Should your business make a submission?
Yes, if you want rules a business your size can comply with, and it doesn't need to read like a legal document. A page on what you use AI for, what you refuse to use it for, and where it has cost you time or money is worth more than a general opinion.
Even if you write nothing, spend an hour listing your AI use cases and who signs off on each. You will want that list when standards land, and it is easier to build now than to reconstruct later.
Submissions close on Monday 14 September.
Wondering what this means for your business?
That's exactly what the discovery call is for.