The new guidance and its stated objectives
Australia’s Minister for Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth, presented a good-practice document for the adoption of artificial intelligence in workplaces. According to reports, the guidance argues that wider uptake of the technology could increase productivity, service quality and business profitability, as well as enable higher wages, shorter and more flexible hours, or more meaningful roles for employees.
Rishworth asked companies to give workers a clear plan on how automation could affect their employment and to offer opportunities to move into new roles. In her address to an economic forum in Sydney, the minister warned that introducing AI without consulting staff risks increasing workloads, because people have to manage an additional step. She also stressed that workers’ willingness to embrace technology should not be taken for granted and depends on training, valuing skills and sharing the benefits.
The risks acknowledged in the document
In addition to the opportunities, the guidance explicitly acknowledges potential dangers: intrusive surveillance of workers, poorly managed shifts, more intense or unrealistic performance standards and possible discrimination. The document warns that, if basic tasks are automated, humans could find themselves with more complex and burdensome duties, and that some employers could use greater monitoring capabilities to assess performance.
The guidance also notes that entry-level jobs are likely to be the first to be automated and that young people, older people, First Nations workers, women and people with disabilities face a risk of disproportionate impacts. On AI-related layoffs, the text says little, limiting itself to recommending prior consultation of employees.
The cuts and the political criticism
The backdrop is a series of staff reductions announced by large companies and partly linked to the growth of AI: Qantas announced 850 redundancies in finance, human resources and marketing, National Australia Bank 2,500 and Canva 1,200. Labor MP Ed Husic, a former industry minister, asked at a parliamentary hearing on the four major banks who will benefit from the productivity increase, posing the alternative between better services and lower prices, secure jobs with higher wages, or merely reduced labor costs and higher returns.
Greens leader David Shoebridge accused the government of standing by while companies cut staff. He argued that asking employers to consult employees effectively leaves those who lose their jobs because of an algorithm without legal protection, citing Qantas, Canva, NAB and ANZ, and called for benefit-sharing to be written into law instead of being left to companies’ goodwill.
What remains to be verified
The Reserve Bank of Australia reported that it has so far seen little evidence of an AI impact on the labor market, while describing the future scope as highly uncertain and noting preliminary signs concerning roles such as clerical workers, programmers and call center operators. It therefore remains unclear how much the announced cuts actually depend on automation and what follow-up the guidance will have: the available material indicates neither sanctionable obligations nor a legislative process under way.
