Australian public servants seek AI limits as Labor pushes faster uptake

Por Miriam Webber — POLITICO – TOP Stories

CANBERRA — Federal public servants are heading toward a showdown over AI conditions for the next three years, as unions say the government isn’t matching its promise to protect workers’ rights with action.

The Public Service Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the Australian government, this week tabled a preliminary offer to establish rights for training on the ethical and safe use of AI, as well as a requirement for higher-ups to consider the impacts of the technology on employment matters.

The commission, unions and individual agencies are locked in talks over common pay and conditions for bureaucrats across more than 100 government agencies.

Once agreement is reached, conditions will be locked in for the three years from the end of February 2027, meaning any clauses on AI will span a period in which Australia is looking to rapidly expand its use of the technology.

The commission’s proposal bypasses a series of claims put forward by the powerful Community and Public Service Commission, the biggest player in negotiations with more than 48,000 members nationally.

CPSU members want a cautious approach to the roll out of AI, including guarantees that the technology won’t be used in decision-making processes that affect employees, such as performance assessments and recruitment decisions, and that humans get the final say on AI-assisted outcomes.

Rebecca Fawcett, the newly elected CPSU national secretary, is looking to replicate the success of conditions she helped win to establish flexible working rights in the 2023 round of talks.

A clause requiring agencies to consider flexible work requests on a case-by-case basis, with a bias toward approval, has cleared out many public service offices as staff opt to work from home.

“The government has committed to being a model employer on AI, but so far we are not seeing that commitment matched by action,” Fawcett told POLITICO, after seeing the offer Thursday.

“What has been presented in APS bargaining does not provide the strong, enforceable protections workers need, or the framework around AI that CPSU members expect.”

Professionals Australia, whose public service members largely work as engineers and scientists, has also expressed surprise at the government’s starting offer.

The body wants mandated human oversight of AI as well as legal immunities and safeguards for specialists who raise concerns or seek to limit the technology’s use in the public interest.

“We anticipate that any offer that fails to include comprehensive measures to address the specific challenges wrought by AI is unlikely to garner the support of our membership,” lead organizer Ashley Sutherland said.

Jeff Lapidos, who leads the Tax Office branch of the Australian Services Union, believes the Commonwealth “should follow the ATO’s position that all decisions that directly affect people must be made by a person and not AI or a bot.”

Government preoccupied with productivity challenge

The backdrop to the negotiations is a push by Treasurer Jim Chalmers to boost productivity across the economy, with AI adoption seen by Treasury officials as one of the main levers the government can pull.

AI will “impact every part of our economy and society, in every corner of our country,” Chalmers said. “We can’t just sit around and hope the benefits of AI fall into our lap.”

It’s a view echoed by Danielle Wood, chair of the Productivity Commission, who told POLITICO that “government services, if we include the states and territories, are about 20% of the economy. Government’s own productivity in providing those services will also have an impact,” on whether Australia can boost productivity growth rates.

The public service negotiations are still in their early days, but friction over AI raises questions around how aggressive employees are prepared to be, and what concessions the government can make.

Unlike the last round of bargaining, where enterprise agreements had already expired, unions are restricted from organizing protected strikes and other action until after February 2027 in most cases.

It means that if public servants want to escalate a fight over AI, they will need to delay their own pay rises to go to the picket line.

For now, the unions’ leverage relies on Labor’s own rhetoric that it will protect jobs in the public service from AI.

“The adoption of AI is to lift productivity and improve services, rather than replace public servants,” a spokesperson for Finance and Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher said.

“Our goal is a more capable public service that uses AI well while remaining a model employer.”

The government has begun to release key directives and plans around the way AI should be rolled out across the public service, including advice this week directing leaders to consult employees and unions where the technology will have a significant impact.

A separate AI plan, published in 2025, requires government agencies to ensure they provide safe and responsible environments for adoption while accelerating uptake.

The commission has said existing workplace conditions address concerns around consultation and job security.

“Embedding prescriptive or overly detailed provisions risks content becoming quickly outdated, potentially leaving the enterprise agreements misaligned with current practice, community expectations, and the broader regulatory landscape,” its offer reads.

The difficulty for unions is that nothing is as enforceable as conditions printed in enterprise agreements.

Plans and directives can be updated, particularly in the case of a change of government in a federal election due by May 2028.

“We really do need to see the Commonwealth move forward with more ambition on those important [conditions] that matter to their workforce,” Fawcett said.

Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories