On 20 July 2026, the Attorney General’s Department released a joint cross-portfolio statement setting out its AI consumer safety priorities (Joint Statement). The Joint Statement outlines a series of regulatory responsibilities across multiple ministers and agencies, with an express focus on strengthening protections, increasing accountability and supporting the safe adoption of AI in Australia. These priorities build on existing government actions, including the establishment of the AI Safety Institute and the Office of AI.
Priority regulatory streams
The government’s AI consumer safety priorities are organised across five key areas:
Led by the Minister for Communications, this stream places the onus on AI companies to build ‘safety by design’ into their products. Unlike the existing user complaints-based model under the Online Safety Act, a duty of care approach would require companies to take anticipatory steps to assess and mitigate risks before harm occurs.
Led by the Attorney-General, this stream involves consultation on a second tranche of privacy reform to strengthen and simplify personal data protection laws. The reforms are expected to include a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, a children’s privacy code, reforms to consent and notification requirements and strengthened rules around the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
Led by the Assistant Minister of Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, this stream will examine the Australian Consumer Law for protections to address consumer AI risks, such as retail surveillance pricing (the use of AI and personal data to set individualised prices based on a consumer's inferred willingness to pay) and agentic commerce (the use of AI agents to autonomously make transactional decisions on behalf of consumers with limited human oversight).
Led by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, this involves developing policy for AI safety in the workplace through the Artificial Intelligence Workplace and Employment Forum (a consultative body bringing together government, businesses and unions to address AI’s impact on the workplace).
Led by the Attorney-General, this stream is focused on building frameworks to better regulate the use of automated decision-making (including AI) within federal agencies.
What this means for your business
The Joint Statement emphasises that safety and innovation are not ‘competing priorities’, but ‘complementary goals’, noting that strong safeguards build trust and enable innovation to deliver lasting benefits.
Organisations developing, deploying or procuring AI systems should monitor these developments closely. In particular:
- businesses using AI in consumer-facing contexts (including dynamic pricing and autonomous purchasing agents) should prepare for potential new obligations under Australian Consumer Law
- organisations that will subject to the forthcoming Digital Duty of Care framework should review their ‘safety by design’ practices
- entities handling personal data in AI-driven services should anticipate tighter requirements under the forthcoming second tranche of privacy reform
- employers using AI in workforce management should be aware that AI safety in the workplace has been identified as a priority area for the Artificial Intelligence Workplace and Employment Forum and should monitor for any policy outcomes or recommendations that emerge
We will continue to monitor these developments and provide updates as the relevant regulatory frameworks take shape. Please reach out to your usual contact if you would like to discuss how these changes may affect your organisation.
Published
5 August 2026This update does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. It is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on matters of interest and it is not intended to be comprehensive. You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content.