A recent report revealed that many Australian Government departments and agencies failed to make their artificial intelligence transparency statements easily accessible or meaningful, despite the requirement becoming mandatory in February 2025.

The study evaluated compliance with the Australian Government’s Policy for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in government, which required in-scope entities to publish an AI transparency statement outlining their use of AI systems.

Transparency statements difficult to access and inconsistent

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) found that AI transparency statements were often difficult to locate and varied significantly in quality and detail. Very few statements were accessible via a clear, direct link, as recommended by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).

The report identified 30 government entities potentially in scope of the policy for which no AI transparency statement could be found, although these entities were considered out of scope by the DTA. Among those that had published statements, some were detailed and informative, while others failed to meet the standards set out in the Standard for AI transparency statements.

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The report concluded that without clearer publication practices and stronger compliance mechanisms, the policy risked falling short of its intended transparency and accountability goals.

Recommendations for stronger AI accountability

To address these gaps, the authors made several recommendations:

• Centralised publication: AI transparency statements should be published in one accessible, central location.

• Clarified scope: The DTA should maintain an explicit list of entities strictly bound by the policy and reconsider which organisations are in scope.

• Enforcement mechanisms: The DTA should explore ways to ensure compliance, including clear consequences for non-compliance.

• Meaningful standards: The Standard for AI transparency statements should be revised to ensure statements provide genuinely useful information, not just formal compliance.

The report, AI Transparency in Practice: An evaluation of Commonwealth entities’ compliance with their obligations regarding AI transparency statements, was authored by Prof Kimberlee Weatherall, José-Miguel Bello y Villarino, and Alexandra Sinclair, with research assistance from Shuxan (Annie) Luo. The work aligns with the Regulatory Project at ADM+S.

Editors Publicspectrum

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