Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has announced that the Federal Government will work together with industry to develop a National AI Capability Plan.
This is in response to the AI industry growing rapidly, with AI and automation expected to generate up to $600 billion a year towards Australia’s GDP by 2030.
There are already around 650 AI companies headquartered in Australia and in the five years to 2023 foreign investors contributed $7 billion to Australian AI technologies.
In 2023 alone $2 billion in venture capital was invested in Australian AI applications.
The Federal Government wants to build its comparative advantages in AI and grow this industry. This is why the Department of Industry, Science and Resources is commencing work on a National AI Capability Plan, to:
- Grow investment:
- Review how existing state and federal government support mechanisms work together to hinder or enable, Australia’s AI ecosystem.
- Look for ways to boost private sector innovation and investment in AI capability.
- Strengthen AI capabilities:
- Identify areas of research and innovation strength across universities and business for future industry growth
- Explore new areas of comparative advantage in key sectors, for example in agriculture, mining and renewable energy.
- Boost AI Skills:
- Work to accelerate AI literacy, identifying new skills, training and re-training.
- Ensure workers can reskill throughout their career to take advantage of new employment opportunities.
- Secure Economic Resilience:
- Identify areas where sovereign capability or infrastructure is required for Australia to get the most out of AI technologies.
- Consider opportunities and risks in relation to AI and digital inclusion.
- Be informed by the experiences and rights of communities and workers – making AI work for us and not the other way around.
The Federal Government has committed $1 billion for critical technologies under the National Reconstruction Fund and the Research and Development Tax Incentive supported nearly $500 million worth of AI, computer vision and machine learning projects in 2022-23.
The Plan builds on work already done by the Albanese Government, including the creation of a network of AI Adopt centres to upskill SMEs and initiatives by the National AI Centre such as the micro skill course ‘Introduction to Artificial Intelligence’ delivered through the CSIRO and TAFE.
Earlier this year we released proposed mandatory guardrails to shape the use of AI in high-risk settings and released the first version of the Voluntary AI Safety Standard.
The plan complements work that we are doing to ensure the safe and responsible adoption of AI in Australia.
It is due to be delivered towards the end of 2025, following both a targeted and public consultation period.
