Australian Government Warned By Artists To Be Cautious With AI Expansion

According to an ABC news report, the majority of Australian creators have been urging the government to hold their nerve with AI expansions, despite Labor last year announcing it would not allow artificial intelligence companies to freely train their models on Australian music, writing, film and art. 

The Labor government in 2025 promised they would not create a “text and data mining exception” that would let AI companies scrape Australian creative work without consent. But many creators argue that AI models have already swallowed up their work over the last few years while no one was looking, as global tech companies are pushing hard for more relaxed rules so they can expand their AI tools quickly in Australia, which might result in the government might cave to this pressure to stay “competitive” globally.

As of recent updates, the government has officially rejected the proposal to create a copyright exemption for AI companies. Despite heavy lobbying from tech giants and a controversial recommendation from the Productivity Commission to allow “free” data mining, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and the Labor government have stood by their promise to protect local creators.