How to use AI for government legal work in Australia

Steps

1. Follow the DTA policy and the agency’s statement

   The current Commonwealth text is the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, version 2.0. It took effect on 15 December 2025 for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, with the exceptions the policy itself states. Read the agency’s transparency statement for the system you are actually using. A lawyer in a state agency also reads that jurisdiction’s own directive if it has one. The NSW IPC guidance on generative AI privacy risks is the privacy reading for NSW public-sector audiences. A private firm briefed by an agency asks which of the agency’s rules travel with the brief.

2. Apply FOI and records obligations to the prompt

   Prompts, uploads and outputs can be records and can be documents under the FOI Act that binds the agency. Do not put a privileged draft or a cabinet document into a tool whose terms you have not cleared with the agency. The privacy and FOI tracker on this site lists the regime for each state. The assessment method is the privacy impact guide.

Record the checks: Administrative law tasks · Open the court note for the forum

Sources

• DTA: Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, version 2.0
• IPC NSW: GenAI privacy risks