Australian Computer Society backs Office of AI plan

The Australian Computer Society has welcomed the Federal Government's plan to create an Office of AI within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, saying the move would create a single national framework for artificial intelligence issues.

The proposed office would bring together the economic, social, national security and environmental dimensions of AI under one structure. ACS argued this would give Australia more coordinated national leadership on a technology becoming increasingly central to business, government and public services.

In its response, the organisation urged ministers to give as much attention to workforce skills and professional recognition as to regulation. Standards and governance for AI would have limited effect without people trained to apply them in practice, it said.

Dr Prins Ralston, Chief Executive Officer of ACS, said the body wanted the new office to connect policy work with implementation across government and industry.

"ACS hopes the Office of AI will provide the coordination needed to connect policy, standards, workforce planning, and implementation across government and industry. Artificial intelligence is a foundational technology that will shape every part of Australia's economy and society," Dr Ralston said.

He linked the debate over AI oversight to broader questions of professional conduct in the technology workforce. ACS has argued that technical knowledge alone is not enough when systems are used in areas with wide social and economic effects.

"In the age of AI, we need to go beyond raw technical ability and ensure those skills are applied responsibly, ethically, and with sound professional judgement. Like cyber security, AI is an area where nationally consistent professional recognition helps us ensure powerful digital technology works for us, and not the other way around," Ralston said.

Workforce focus

ACS also backed the government's plan to legislate standards for AI and set clear rules for large data centres. The position aligns the organisation with a broader push in Australia to combine digital policy with industrial strategy, especially as demand rises for domestic computing infrastructure and secure data handling.

Dr Ralston said data centres could strengthen both the economy and Australia's position in the Indo-Pacific, but argued that infrastructure ownership alone would not resolve questions of national control. In his view, sovereignty depends on the local workforce that builds, runs, secures and governs those systems.

ACS pointed to a series of existing programs it said align with the proposed remit of the Office of AI. These include leading the CyberPath consortium on a national framework for cyber security roles, accrediting university IT degrees against international standards, and supporting the federal target of 1.2 million technology workers by 2030.

It is also working with the Future Skills Organisation on entry-level pathways into the sector, running professional development networks for IT workers, and maintaining ethical standards for members. ACS said it is involved in workforce development using the Skills Framework for the Information Age and in credentialing work linked to the Human Capability Record.

Recognition systems

A central part of the group's argument is that AI policy should be tied to trusted systems for recognising skills and credentials. ACS said the Office of AI could help embed its principle of "open where possible, sovereign where necessary" in national workforce planning and credentialing.

"The Office of AI is well placed to help anchor credentialing and skills recognition in trusted, sovereign and portable infrastructure such as the Human Capability Record," Ralston said.

He added that a more unified model would reduce fragmentation in how government and industry verify digital skills.

"A coordinated approach would support workforce mobility and nationally consistent recognition, while helping government and industry avoid fragmented or vendor-specific systems," Ralston said.

Beau Tydd, President of ACS, said public investment in the Office of AI should not stop at regulation. Skills policy and professional development would determine whether AI rules can be translated into practical outcomes inside organisations, he said.

"Funding and focus need to extend beyond regulation and standards-setting into skills and professional development. Without a workforce equipped to implement these frameworks, Australia risks building sophisticated governance architecture without the capability needed to realise its benefits," Tydd said.

ACS represents more than 41,000 technology professionals across Australia and has used that position to press for stronger links between national digital policy and labour market planning. Its intervention on the Office of AI suggests industry groups are already seeking to shape the office not just as a regulatory centre, but as a body with influence over skills, accreditation and workforce standards.