General news

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared the government would make AI a national priority and begin by conducting an AI gap analysis to identify what legislation could be required. 

That’s in addition to a commitment from unions and businesses to work towards a model that ensures creatives are paid for content used to train AI. 

These discussions are a good start, especially when talking about technology that has the potential to transform our lives and jobs. Now we need tangible outcomes that protect Australian workers. 

That’s why the FSU will be visiting key senior politicians next week in Canberra and continuing to argue our case for a strong worker voice in any potential AI reforms. FSU members Kathryn Sullivan, Adrian Thoen, Mackenzi de Piazza and Dhanushi Jaythilika will be part of this delegation, ensuring the interests of finance workers are front and centre. 

Last week’s backflip from CBA to replace 45 jobs with an AI-powered voice bot is a clear example of why we need proper guardrails around the use of AI. Despite claiming the voice bot had reduced call volumes, FSU members told a different story – that call volumes were actually increasing. 

Big business will always opt for what they perceive as the ‘easy road’ to boost profits. We cannot rely on employers to adequately consider unintended consequences. 

Digital transition must work for us, not against us 

To help establish these guardrails, our union has developed a new roadmap for a digital just transition, which we will present to the government next week during our delegation.  

The roadmap includes four key pillars that must underpin any digital transformation: 

• Consultation – workers must be consulted at all phases of AI development. 
• Education – workers need paid time to retrain and gain transferrable skills. 
• Data security and surveillance – security over who has your data, where it is stored, and how it is used. 
• Redundancy – when workers are displaced by AI, they must be given more time to find redeployment opportunities. 

We’ll have a lot more to say on these four pillars and how we intend to shape the national AI conversation around them. 

Remember, the whole point of boosting Australia’s productivity is to improve the living standards of all Australians. Technology will play a big role in this – but we have to ensure any benefits are shared with workers. 

This won’t happen unless our voices are heard. Read more about the FSU’s ongoing AI campaign and get involved here.