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AI Technical Standard

https://www.digital.gov.au/policy/ai/AI-technical-standard
Added by:   OECD analyst
Added on:   14 Aug 2026
Updated by:   OECD analyst
Updated on:   14 Aug 2026
The standard helps agencies, technical specialists and business owners build AI safely and responsibly by providing practical guidance to design, build and deploy AI systems in ways that uphold fairness, transparency and accountability. The standard reinforces the Australian Government’s AI Ethics Principles into a set of technical requirements and guidelines.

Initiative overview

To support the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has developed the AI technical standard for Australian Government. This standard provides practical guidance for technical specialists and business owners embedding AI in government systems, enabling agencies to confidently experiment with and develop AI use cases. 

The standard outlines best practice for the end-to-end design, development, deployment, and use of AI systems. It reinforces the Australian Government’s commitment to the AI Ethics Principles. By establishing the core technical foundation, the standard strengthens the broader ecosystem of policies, frameworks, and guidance. It is a key enabler for building capability across government, ensuring agencies can innovate with AI while maintaining public trust and delivering better outcomes for Australians.

The standard brings together a set of practices for procuring, designing, developing, deploying, and using AI systems. The standard reinforces the Australian Government’s AI Ethics Principles into a set of technical requirements and guidelines. It complements the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, the AI Assurance framework, and the Voluntary AI Safety Standard.

The standard adopts an agency-first approach. Rather than introducing new processes or duplication, it emphasises the reuse of agency policies, frameworks and practices. 
Agencies may choose to combine the standard with existing frameworks, such as project governance or data, to include AI-related activities. The standard complements existing frameworks and legislation to help ensure agencies meet their obligations in the use of AI.

The challenges for government use of AI are complex and linked with other governance considerations, such as:

  • The Australian Public Service (APS) Code of Conduct
  • data governance
  • cyber security
  • ICT infrastructure
  • privacy
  • sourcing and procurement
  • copyright
  • ethics practices.

While not exhaustive, a list of related existing frameworks and related resources is provided by the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government.

Other relevant details

The standard applies to: • AI services and products for administrative decision-making in government • AI systems that may produce discriminatory, unfair, or harmful outcomes • platform, data, and software for AI services and products • a product or service with at least one AI model, hosted internally or externally • reuse of AI assets, including applying to new or changed use cases • systems with embedded AI services and products • publicly available AI tools, such as ChatGPT. The standard will continue to evolve to include emerging technologies such as agentic AI. Results, outcomes and impacts: The AI technical standard was published July 2025. The DTA is undertaking a data collection exercise across the APS to understand how the standard is used to develop and use AI. The expected future impacts include: • More consistent and responsible AI practices across government • Safer, transparent and more trustworthy use of AI • Clearer expectations for procurement, suppliers and oversight bodies • Improve interoperability and reuse across government • Support innovation and wider economic and societal benefits Challenges and lessons learned: These are some of the challenges faced. • Agencies are encouraged but not required to use the standard, which can lead to inconsistent adoption. This creates the risk that not all agencies adopt it consistently. • The technology is evolving rapidly such as the evolution of agentic AI and emerging technologies • The DTA has developed additional guidance to support the APS • The DTA has develop a roadmap for further standards and guidance to support APS in adopting future technology

AI Tags

AI Governance & PolicyTrustworthy AIAI in Government

About the policy initiative

Australia
Australia

Category:

  • Regulations, guidelines and standards

Initiative type:

  • National Standard

Status:

  • Active

Start Year:

  • 2024

Binding:

  • Non-binding

Target Sectors:

AI in Digital Health

AI in Digital Health

The Digital Health Agency’s AI initiative aims to improve how health information is used to support safer, more connected care for Australians. It helps clinicians and consumers by providing faster insights and reducing manual work. The initiative was created to address growing demand for timely, reliable health information and to ensure emerging AI tools are used safely and responsibly in the health system.

Start year: 2026
Country/Organisation: Australia
Remote Pilot Program

Remote Pilot Program

The Department uses drones to provide innovative and expert advice grounded in evidence and science, provide regulatory compliance and surveillance activities, provide land management, visitor safety and infrastructure inspection in Commonwealth Parks, engage and partner with First Nations ranger groups and provide staff safety and wellbeing in operational settings.

Start year: 2025
Country/Organisation: Australia
GovAI Chat

GovAI Chat

GovAI Chat is a secure, government-controlled generative AI tool developed specifically for the Australian Public Service (APS). The goal of GovAI Chat is to give public servants access to the advanced AI capabilities of a contemporary chat interface tailored to the APS context – with the security, compliance, and public sector knowledge embedded in the GovAI environment.

Start year: 2025
Country/Organisation: Australia
APS AI Plan - Artificial Intelligence (AI) Plan for the Australian Public Service (APS)

APS AI Plan - Artificial Intelligence (AI) Plan for the Australian Public Service (APS)

The AI Plan for the Australian Public Service (APS) will improve government service delivery, policy outcomes, efficiency, and productivity, through substantially increasing the use of AI in government. Every public servant will have the training and guidance required to use generative AI safely and responsibly, alongside secure access to generative AI tools, and every agency will have a Chief AI Officer to drive adoption, with AI use tracked and reported on.

Start year: 2025
Country/Organisation: Australia
Guidance for AI Adoption: Implementation Guidance

Guidance for AI Adoption: Implementation Guidance

Guidance for AI Adoption: Implementation Guidance (October 2025) is an Australian Government initiative providing a framework for responsible AI adoption. It outlines six practices covering accountability, impact assessment, risk management, transparency, testing and human oversight, helping organisations plan, implement and govern AI systems while mitigating risks and aligning with international standards.

Start year: 2025
Country/Organisation: Australia
Criminal Code Amendment (Using Technology to Generate Child Abuse Material) Bill 2025

Criminal Code Amendment (Using Technology to Generate Child Abuse Material) Bill 2025

Proposed in July 2025, this bill amends the Criminal Code Act 1995 to criminalize the use of technology, including AI, for the creation of child abuse material. It introduces new offences for downloading, accessing, supplying, or enabling access to such technology.

Start year: 2025
Country/Organisation: Australia
AI and Cyber Risk Model Clauses

AI and Cyber Risk Model Clauses

Published on 20 March 2025, the AI and Cyber Risk Model Clauses initiative by BuyICT.gov.au makes available a collection of contractual clauses for inclusion in digital and ICT procurement contracts in Australia. The AI model clauses support responsible, ethical, and secure procurement of AI systems, including custom solutions, embedded AI products, and internal AI tools, promoting transparency and accountability.

Start year: 2025
Country/Organisation: Australia
Mandatory Guardrails for Safe and Responsible AI

Mandatory Guardrails for Safe and Responsible AI

The paper outlines proposed options for mandatory guardrails as preventative measures that would require developers and deployers of high-risk AI to take specific steps across the AI lifecycle.The paper includes:- a proposed definition of high-risk AI- 10 proposed regulatory guardrails to reduce the likelihood of harms occurring from the development and deployment of AI systems- regulatory options to mandate guardrails, building on current work to strengthen and clarify existing laws

Start year: 2024
Country/Organisation: Australia
Grant Connect – Web Reporting

Grant Connect – Web Reporting

This initiative applies AI to automatically create short, clear summaries of government grant applications published on Grant Connect. It was developed to reduce manual work and errors, and to ensure grant information is accurate, consistent and easy for the public to understand.

Start year: 2024
Country/Organisation: Australia