“The prime minister made a notably strong public statement on behalf of creators. Musicians, writers and publishers have urged the government to resist pressure from AI companies and protect their work, and Albanese appeared to answer that call,” said Katrina Crooks, a principal and head of Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers in Sydney.

Delving more deeply into the topic, Crooks said Australia’s copyright regime will continue to be permission-based for the foreseeable future. At this stage, it will not adopt a U.S.-style fair use or EU-style opt-out text and data mining (TDM) exception. According to her, the government has refused to include a TDM exception for AI training. “This has become the centrepiece of an escalating standoff between global AI companies seeking to invest billions in Australian infrastructure and creative industries determined to preserve the integrity of the Copyright Act 1968,” she said.

Currently, AI training using works by local creative professionals is subject to licensing and payment. However, legislative change to introduce some form of compulsory licensing is possible. The level of compulsion to license content is still under consideration.

Timing is also uncertain because the Attorney-General’s Department has not established a timetable in case there would be some legislative changes. “The Consultative Committee is only now reconvening to discuss submissions from its December consultation,” Crooks said.

She added that the government is also considering a new enforcement mechanism that will make it easier for smaller rights holders to pursue AI companies that used their works without their consent or licence.

“However, the underlying policy conflicts between investment attraction and creator protection remain unresolved. The current debate reflects the potential conflict between the desire of the government to attract AI investment in Australia, which brings it under increasing pressure to relax copyright protection, and the interests of content creators in maintaining control over use of their content and ensuring financial recompense for such use. The government’s new regulatory framework and approach to copyright will be closely watched by rights holders and AI developers alike,” Crooks stated.

Albanese’s move is a pivot from earlier AI regulation, according to Crooks, but this is not the first time. “An earlier policy framework included mandatory guardrails, before the December 2025 National AI Plan reversed course, adopting a ‘technology-neutral’ approach with no standalone AI Act and no mandatory guardrails. The latest announcement appears to reverse that position once again, returning to a more interventionist regulatory posture,” she explained.

- Espie Angelica A. de Leon