A new study has found that Australia lacks a unified national regulatory framework for the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace, warning that without timely legislation, the country could repeat the early regulatory failures seen with social media.
The report was written by the John Curtin Research Centre and supported by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA). It warns that unregulated AI use could increase employee surveillance, intensify workloads, and contribute to job insecurity.
The report notes that the impact of AI is far greater than that of social media, which, due to early regulatory gaps, eventually became a major channel for misinformation and public risk. Researchers are calling on the federal government to urgently develop a national strategy to ensure technological development progresses alongside labour protections.
Recommended measures include establishing an AI expert panel within the Fair Work Commission to handle related workplace disputes, and ensuring existing labour protections apply to new technological environments. The report also calls for mandatory consultation with employees and unions before companies deploy AI systems, as well as stronger investment in workforce retraining.
Industry sources also note that some companies have already adopted more intrusive monitoring tools, including tracking employees’ keystrokes and screen activity, with some controversial cases involving alleged monitoring of remote work devices.
Experts say current laws, including anti-discrimination legislation, human rights protections, and the Fair Work Act, are not sufficient to fully address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, and that a unified and forward-looking regulatory framework is urgently needed.