Week of 16 February 2026
NIST's CAISI is hosting virtual workshops in May 2026 on AI adoption barriers in healthcare, finance, and education.
Key points
- Findings will inform CAISI's AI adoption guidance under the US AI Action Plan - outputs may have broader international relevance.
- Limited direct relevance to Australian federal agencies; sector focus is US-specific, though emerging findings are worth monitoring.
Australia ranked 2nd of 42 countries in the OECD 2025 Digital Government Index with a score of 88%.
Key points
- The AI Plan for the APS and the Policy for Responsible Use of AI are cited as contributors to the 'Proactiveness' dimension score.
- AI governance is one thread in a broader digital government result; the item is primarily a DTA achievement announcement.
DTA published governance board guidance developed with University of Queensland, covering nine principles for effective digital project boards.
Key points
- Guidance focuses on board composition, decision-making authority, and adapting governance across a project's lifecycle.
- AI is not mentioned; this is digital project governance guidance with no direct AI or algorithmic systems focus.
Week of 9 February 2026
A ten-country network including Australia published consensus practices for automated AI evaluation and measurement.
Key points
- Australia is a founding member of this NIST-led international body, giving APS bodies direct insight into emerging global evaluation norms.
- Preliminary consensus draws on CAISI's draft Best Practices for Automated Benchmark Evaluations, currently open for public comment.
Week of 12 January 2026
NIST's CAISI has issued an RFI on securing AI agent systems, with submissions closing 9 March 2026.
Key points
- The RFI targets risks unique to agentic AI: prompt injection, data poisoning, misaligned objectives, and specification gaming.
- Outputs will inform voluntary US guidelines - a likely reference point for Australian agentic AI governance work.
Week of 5 January 2026
DTA's updated Policy for the responsible use of AI in government came into effect 15 December 2025 for all non-corporate Commonwealth entities.
Key points
- New mandatory requirements include internal AI use-case registers, accountable owners, AI impact assessments, and foundational AI training for all APS staff.
- First mandatory requirement begins 15 June 2026; all remaining requirements take effect December 2026, giving agencies a staged implementation window.
Good Ancestors' January 2026 newsletter covers Australia's AISI hiring, Grok deepfake crisis, Productivity Commission AI regulation findings, and global safety warnings.
Key points
- Multiple items directly affect APS work: MYEFO reveals $166M GovAI Chat, AISI founding team roles, ACCC agentic AI warnings, and automated welfare liability.
- Roundup format means each item warrants separate engagement at source; this is a curated signal, not a single-issue analysis.
Week of 15 December 2025
The APS AI Plan requires all agencies to appoint a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) from existing senior leadership by July 2026.
Key points
- CAIOs are distinct from AI Accountable Officials - they lead AI transformation and cultural change, not just governance.
- A new AI Delivery and Enablement (AIDE) function will coordinate CAIOs across the APS to drive safe AI adoption.
Finance Secretary announces AIDE - a new whole-of-APS function to drive coordinated, scalable AI adoption across government.
Key points
- GovAI platform provides APS-only secure AI collaboration and training, with GovAI Chat generative AI capability planned for 2026.
- The announcement signals a formal shift from agency-level pilots to system-wide, Finance-led AI uplift and enablement.
Australia ranked 5th globally in the World Bank's 2025 GovTech Maturity Index with a score of 98.5%.
Key points
- AI governance is cited as a contributing factor - the APS AI Plan and AI policy are listed among enabling initiatives.
- This is primarily a digital transformation milestone; AI is one thread among several, not the central subject.
Department of Finance sponsored GovHack 2025, setting challenges around government services and regulatory simplification.
Key points
- Winning teams developed AI-powered platforms to improve service navigation and small business compliance.
- Winners are invited to showcase at AI CoLab next year - limited direct governance or policy signal for APS practitioners.
NIST CAISI is hiring an AI Research Scientist focused on evaluation methods and trustworthy AI measurement.
Key points
- The role signals continued US investment in rigorous AI evaluation infrastructure relevant to international standards work.
- Job postings carry low signal for APS readers; included for context on CAISI's capability build-out only.
Week of 8 December 2025
Good Ancestors' December 2025 newsletter covers Australia's National AI Plan, AISI announcement, and multiple international developments.
Key points
- The Australian AISI ($30m, early 2026 start) and National AI Plan are the headline items, with APS AI Plan also featured.
- Newsletter spans AI espionage, model releases, deepfake legislation, CSIRO restructure, and EU AI Act delays across 15+ distinct items.
DTA's new whole-of-government Cloud Policy takes effect 1 July 2026 for non-corporate Commonwealth entities.
Key points
- Policy explicitly positions cloud infrastructure as the foundation for AI adoption across the APS.
- Five core requirements cover cloud prioritisation, security, cost transparency, interoperability, and workforce skills.
CAISI evaluated Kimi K2 Thinking, finding it the most capable PRC-origin AI model at release but still behind leading US models.
Key points
- The evaluation benchmarks cyber, software engineering, scientific knowledge, and mathematical reasoning - directly relevant to APS risk assessments of open-weight models.
- Kimi K2 Thinking is heavily censored in Chinese but relatively uncensored in English, Spanish, and Arabic - a notable asymmetry.
DTA hosted OECD E-Leaders Day 2, covering human-centred design, digital identity, AI measurement, and digital investment.
Key points
- Only a quarter of OECD countries conduct thorough AI impact assessments; Australia's Investment Oversight Framework was highlighted as a comparative example.
- AI measurement is one thread among several - the item is broader digital government practice than AI-specific governance.
Week of 1 December 2025
DTA has released an updated AI policy, a new AI Impact Assessment Tool, and new AI procurement guidance, effective 15 December 2025.
Key points
- The updated Policy mandates AI impact assessments for all use cases and requires agencies to develop and communicate a strategic position on AI adoption.
- An AI Review Committee for high-risk use cases across the APS is being finalised, with terms of reference expected in Q1 2026.
The National AI Centre released practical guidance on labelling, watermarking, and metadata for AI-generated content.
Key points
- Guidance targets businesses but applies equally to APS agencies producing AI-assisted communications and official documents.
- Framed around regulatory risk reduction and trust-building, aligned with responsible AI use principles in government.
Week of 17 November 2025
The APS AI Plan has launched, jointly led by Finance, APSC, and DTA, structured around Trust, People, and Tools pillars.
Key points
- Agencies must appoint Chief AI Officers, designate accountable officers per use case, maintain internal AI registers, and conduct AI impact assessments.
- A new AI Review Committee managed by DTA will provide cross-government scrutiny of high-risk AI use cases.
Week of 3 November 2025
Good Ancestors' October/November 2025 newsletter covers a dense cluster of Australian and international AI policy developments.
Key points
- Key Australian threads include Treasury's light-touch ACL review, eSafety's new AI chatbot codes, and the pending National AI Plan.
- Australia's IMD digital competitiveness ranking fell from 15th to 23rd, with its AI laws ranking dropping from 8th to 34th in one year.
Week of 20 October 2025
NAIC's updated Guidance for AI Adoption consolidates the Voluntary AI Safety Standard into 6 streamlined key practices.
Key points
- Guidance offers two tiers - Foundations for new adopters and Implementation Practices for scaling organisations - with templates included.
- Primarily targets Australian businesses, not government agencies directly, though principles align with APS AI governance frameworks.
Week of 29 September 2025
NIST's CAISI evaluated three DeepSeek models against four US models across 19 benchmarks, finding significant US leads in performance and security.
Key points
- DeepSeek models were 12 times more susceptible to agent hijacking and responded to 94% of jailbreak attempts vs 8% for US models.
- Australian agencies using or considering DeepSeek models face security and CCP-narrative-propagation risks flagged by a peer-jurisdiction regulator.
Week of 22 September 2025
CAISI worked with OpenAI and Anthropic to identify security vulnerabilities and improve AI security measurement.
Key points
- Evaluations were completed in partnership with the UK AI Security Institute, signalling ongoing Five Eyes-adjacent AI safety cooperation.
- Australia's AISI is not mentioned; this bilateral US-UK arrangement may inform where Australia sits in frontier AI security collaboration.
Week of 8 September 2025
Good Ancestors' September 2025 newsletter covers major Australian and international AI governance developments across two months.
Key points
- Australian threads dominate: a national AI Act debate, six new AU-focused reports, GPT-5 oversight gaps, and calls for an Australian AISI.
- International threads include the US AI Action Plan, China's competing governance vision, EU GPAI Code of Practice, and UK AISI pre-release testing.
Week of 25 August 2025
The Responsible AI Index 2025, now in its fourth year, tracks RAI maturity across accountability, safety, fairness, transparency and explainability.
Key points
- Only 12% of Australian organisations are rated 'leading' in responsible AI; smaller organisations struggle with resource-intensive practices.
- A self-assessment tool accompanies the index, letting organisations benchmark their RAI maturity against peers and receive tailored guidance.