Automated Decision-Making (Safeguards and Transparency) Bill 2026

Summary

The Australian government increasingly uses automated systems to make decisions for citizens—like calculating welfare payments, aged care packages, and NDIS support—but there are currently no laws controlling how these systems work, what they decide, or whether they're fair or accurate. This creates a mandatory framework across all Commonwealth departments requiring agencies to assess risks before automating decisions, ban automation in certain situations (like when it would be unlawful or bypass human judgment without good reason), tell people when a decision about them was made by a computer, and explain how that decision was reached. It also requires human oversight, creates a public register of automated systems, and gives the Ombudsman power to audit compliance. This responds directly to the Robodebt scandal—where automated debt collection harmed hundreds of thousands of Australians—and ongoing problems with opaque automation in aged care and disability services.

What happens at this stage

The main debate on whether the chamber supports the broad purpose of the bill. Members speak to its overall merits and concerns rather than the fine print. The government outlines its policy intentions; the opposition and crossbench put their case. This is the stage that determines whether the bill proceeds at all.

Next: Consideration in Detail (House) or Committee of the Whole (Senate), where the bill is examined clause by clause