NEW AI TECHNICAL STANDARD YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

On July 31, 2025, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) released the Technical Standard for Government's Use of Artificial Intelligence.

The new AI Technical Standard guides Australian government agencies on safe, responsible AI deployment, covering the entire system lifecycle to ensure transparency and accountability. 

The complete Technical Standards span over 100 pages, consisting of 42 Statements describing "what" needs to be done and 148 implementation criteria to "satisfy the statements and meet the standard".

At this time, these three organisation types are required to comply with the new AI Technical Standard:

1. the Australian Public Service (APS)

2. Suppliers and Contractors: Any organisation that provides AI products, managed services, or consultancy services to the APS

3. Vendors of COTS Solutions: When suppliers provide Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) models that are customised or fine-tuned for APS use

For everyone else, and most importantly, the DTA's standard outlines best practice for the end-to-end design, development, deployment, and use of AI systems.

What should you be doing?

Firstly, start getting familiar with the new Australian AI technical standard.

Secondly, you may wish to formalise your AI governance approach if:

- AI governance is moving from aspirational to mandatory in your organisation, or

- Recent public AI failures have made you question whether your current AI governance approach is adequate

How we help?

Our practical AI governance training program provides detailed implementation guidance for each AI Technical Standard statement, structured around the complete AI lifecycle from investment decisions through to system retirement. 

Stay safe, Bruce

ABOUT ME

I write all my own content, you can tell by the odd typo and occasional missing word. I use AI for research. I also teach organisations how to implement the Australian AI Governance Standard and confidently transition to AI systems. To learn about my upcoming public AI Governance workshops visit: Public workshops

To learn more about AI Governance, check out my Hitchhikers Guide to AI Governance Podcast visit:  Hitchhikers Guide to AI Governance Podcast