Australian AI Standards and new AI safety regulator: what businesses need to know

On 10 November 2026, the Commonwealth Government announced it will legislate Australian AI Standards (Standards) to regulate providers of frontier AI models operating in Australia. The Government also announced that it intends to introduce a new regulator for AI safety to enforce the Standards. The regulator will have the power to impose "significant penalties" for contravention of the Standards.

This announcement is the latest development in the Commonwealth Government's approach to AI safety and appears to be intended to operate alongside other proposed reforms including the Digital Duty of Care, Tranche 2 privacy reforms, and other AI-consumer safety priorities.

The reforms are intended to provide confidence in the steps being taken by frontier AI models to improve safety and security.

Mandatory obligations for AI companies

While full details are not yet clear, the announcement confirmed that the Standards will include requirements for frontier AI companies to:

1. maintain security controls across all stages of development and deployment;
2. identify and manage serious risks associated with their models;
3. allow independent evaluation of their models;
4. provide mandatory notification of incidents to the Australian Government rapidly;
5. maintain and publish safety and security frameworks to ensure good governance, risk management and transparency; and
6. respond to updated standards and rules as technologies change.

It is likely that obligations in relation to risk management will follow a similar approach to those included in the draft Digital Duty of Care Bill, imposing obligations on companies to undertake regular risk assessments and take steps to mitigate the risks identified.

Any obligations for AI companies to implement specific security controls or submit models or code to a regulator for independent evaluation would go beyond existing security obligations under privacy and critical infrastructure legislation and may prove controversial with frontier AI companies based in jurisdictions with less prescriptive regulation.

The new, specialised regulator

To enforce the Standards, the Government proposes the creation of a targeted regulator for AI safety in Australia.

The Government suggests that the new regulator would work in conjunction with the Australian AI Safety Institute, which launched earlier this year, to ensure Australia has the technical expertise and oversight it needs, as technology and standards continue to evolve around the world.

What do AI companies need to do now?

While there are no immediate obligations or actions required of AI companies already operating in Australia, it will be important for organisations to remain informed about the ever-changing landscape of Australian technological regulation.

To stay up to date on how Australia's AI, technology and privacy reforms might affect you and your organisation, keep your eye on Lander & Rogers' Insights and AI expertise pages, or contact someone in our Digital Economy practice to discuss how these proposed reforms could affect your organisation.