ACAIS welcomes mandatory AI safeguards; reiterates need for frontier training in Australia

MEDIA RELEASE     

10 November 2026 

ACAIS welcomes mandatory AI safeguards; reiterates need for frontier training in Australia 

The Australian Council on AI Strategy (ACAIS) welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement of a new AI safety regulator with the power to impose significant penalties on companies if they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent harm. 

ACAIS also welcomes the Albanese government’s release and acceptance of all 18 recommendations from the rapid review into Australian Government arrangements for an AI‑driven cyber incident.  
 
ACAIS CEO Anna-Maria Arabia OAM said: “Australian authorities need to be able to require AI companies to report serious incidents promptly and open their models to independent testing. For the proposed regulations to have teeth, Australia needs to train frontier AI models onshore.” 
 
Ms Arabia called on the Government to build direct working relationships with frontier AI developers to attract frontier AI training to Australia, so we have the levers to strengthen AI safety and security. 

“Australia can set strong rules, but we will have very little say over how the world’s most powerful AI systems are built and governed, unless we are a significant part of the frontier AI supply chain. Currently the direction of frontier AI development and deployment sits with a small number of companies and governments overseas,” she said. 
 
ACAIS welcomes the review’s focus on the capacity of the Australian AI Safety Institute and reiterates its call for more resources. The Institute needs the people and computing power to carry out independent tests on pre-release models,” Ms Arabia said. 

“We want Australian experts working with the teams building the most powerful models, and our national security agencies involved. ” Ms Arabia said. 

ENDS 

About ACAIS 

The Australian Council on AI Strategy (ACAIS) is an independent, non-partisan Australian charitable body focused on strengthening AI policy and capability and supporting robust evidence-informed decision making. We operate nationally and internationally to bridge the knowledge and institutional gaps between actors across the AI ecosystem. We serve Australia’s national interest and recognise the significant role Australia can play in advancing the global public interest.