The BGA Australia team, led by Managing Director Michael “Mick” McNeill, and Senior Director for Technology William Heidlage wrote an update to clients on changes to Australia’s technology polcies.

Context

  • The Australian government is at a key juncture of its technology policy agenda as it seeks to lift productivity, address antitrust concerns, strengthen online safety and protect local artists. The government, committed to private-sector-led economic growth, has heeded calls from industry to take a more nuanced approach toward regulating artificial intelligence (AI).
  • At the same time, digital platforms and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump have criticized minimum local content requirements for streaming services, news media bargaining codes and social media age restrictions. Major information and communications technology companies have pushed back against potential moves that would effectively impose data localization requirements. For its part, the government is also looking to develop antitrust laws targeted at digital platforms.

Key Updates

  • The government will soon release its National AI Capability Plan. The plan will seek ways to streamline investment, identify areas of competitive advantage, boost AI skills and highlight areas that need sovereign capability. The government announced an Australian AI Safety Institute November 25 to evaluate emerging AI capabilities, share information and support timely actions to address potential risks. Around 650 AI companies are headquartered in Australia. From 2018-2023, foreign investors contributed AUD 7 billion (US$4.5 billion) to Australian AI technologies.
  • Industry Minister Tim Ayres appears to support a less stringent regime for AI in high-risk settings. In January 2025, then-Industry Minister Ed Husic said the government was in “the final stages” of developing mandatory guardrails for AI. But the Productivity Commission has recommended that the government pause implementation of the proposed mandatory guardrails until a review is completed of the gaps posed by AI to existing regulatory structures. A stand-alone AI Act appears unlikely.
  • The development of a national data center strategy continues, led by Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton. “When you are trying to build a data center in Australia, there are a lot of approvals that you need to get. Sometimes, those approvals can be in the hundreds,” he said. The Reserve Bank governor recently reported that “data centers have been doing quite well” in terms of private sector investment. Some experts argue that guidance by the Foreign Investment Review Board has not been adapted to reflect the complexities of data center deals. The Treasury is consulting on streamlining and strengthening the foreign investment framework.
  • U.S. cloud, cyber and software firms, as well as the Business Software Alliance, have pushed back against data rules that encourage data localization. These include the Hosting Certification, Protective Security Policy Framework and Security of Critical Infrastructure Act. The Horizon 2 Home Affairs consultation on Australia’s cybersecurity strategy is searching for new ways to uplift the country’s cyber posture.
  • The Social Media Minimum Age Act takes effect December 10. As of November 26, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit are age-restricted platforms. Captured platforms include those meeting the under-16 age-restriction criteria specified in the act, particularly the key requirement that their “sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction.” Legislative rules have exempted services with the sole or primary purpose of one of the following: messaging, email, voice calling or video calling; playing online games with other users; professional networking; health information; and education information.
  • The government intends to legislate a Digital Duty of Care aligned with United Kingdom’s and European Union’s approaches. At a minimum, this would require digital platforms to take reasonable steps to combat online sexual exploitation and abuse, the sharing of sexually explicit images without consent, incitement to violence and abhorrent violent content, “post and boast” content involving crime and other technology-facilitated abuse such as stalking. Consultations have commenced.
  • The government is legislating an Australian content obligation on streaming services. Streaming services with more than 1 million Australian subscribers will need to invest at least 10 percent of their total expenditure for Australia — or 7.5 percent of their revenue — on new local drama, children’s, documentary, arts and educational programs. “These obligations would fall disproportionately on U.S. streaming services, diverting investment away from U.S. and international productions,” according to the Computer and Communications Industry Association. U.S. streaming platforms claim the content obligation is a breach of the Australia-U.S. free trade agreement. The Trump administration has raised the issue with the Australian government, as did the previous Joe Biden administration. Streaming businesses may ask the Trump administration to use the threat of tariffs to pressure the Australian government.
  • The government intends to strengthen the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code through the News Media Bargaining Incentive. Although the code has been successful in creating deals between digital platforms and news businesses, it can only apply to digital platforms that carry news on their services. In practice this means that, without further incentive, a platform withdrawing news entirely from its service would render designation under the code ineffective because there would be nothing to negotiate or arbitrate.
  • The government began consultations on the implementation of a new digital competition regime in Australia in December 2024. This followed an in-principle agreement to competition reforms recommended by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as part of its 2020-2025 Digital Platforms Services Inquiry. The proposed framework would bring service-specific obligations on certain designated digital platforms. Service-specific codes could target issues such as anti-competitive self-preferencing, anti-competitive tying, pre-installation agreements, the denial of interoperability and data advantages. These requirements would complement the enforcement of existing competition law. The proposed regime is similar to reforms being implemented or proposed in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and India. The ACCC’s focus includes cloud computing. It found that the major providers of cloud computing in Australia — Amazon, Microsoft and Google — are vast, incumbent digital platforms that are vertically integrated across the cloud technology stack.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in Australia as they occur. If you have any questions or comments, please contact BGA Australia Managing Director Michael “Mick” McNeill at mmcneill@bowergroupasia.com or BGA Senior Director for Technology William Heidlage at wheidlage@bowergroupasia.com.

Best regards,

BGA Australia Team

A small ginko leaf

Managing Director

Mick is a highly-experienced government relations expert and trusted advisor on consensus building, conflict resolution and legislative developments. He has played an integral role in helping parties achieve desired outcomes in areas of national security, health policy, foreign policy and reputational crisis management, as well as media relations, communications campaigns, immigration and human rights. Mick has two decades’ experience working with government as a media analyst, political adviser and NGO advocacy manager. After a stint serving as an adviser to an Australian senator, Mick took on the role of the locally engaged senior political specialist at the U.S. Embassy in ... Read More