---
title: "How to use AI for government legal work in Australia"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/guides/ai-government-lawyers-australia"
type: "how_to_guide"
site: "AI Law Framework"
practice_area: "Regulation and government"
---

# How to use AI for government legal work in Australia

> Government legal work follows the Digital Transformation Agency’s policy for the responsible use of AI in government, the agency’s own transparency statement, and the FOI and records rules that already apply to the file.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/guides/ai-government-lawyers-australia

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Check this before you rely on it

The DTA policy is for government. A private firm briefed by an agency still asks which of the agency’s rules travel with the brief. The NSW IPC’s generative AI privacy guidance is for its audience, not a national FOI manual.

## 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.

## Questions

**Is it allowed to use AI for government legal work in Australia?**

Only inside the DTA policy, the agency’s own statement, and the FOI and records rules for that file. A private-sector tool policy does not replace them.

**What tools are used for government legal work?**

Use the system the agency has authorised. This page does not approve a product for a brief.

**Is a prompt an FOI document?**

It can be a record and it can be a document under the FOI Act that applies. Ask the agency before you treat a chat log as private.

## Sources

- [DTA: Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, version 2.0](https://www.digital.gov.au/ai/ai-in-government-policy)
- [IPC NSW: GenAI privacy risks](https://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/resources/guide-privacy-risks-associated-use-generative-ai-tools)

## Related

- [Administrative law tasks](https://ailawframework.com/practice/administrative-and-public-law.md)
- [Privacy and FOI tracker](https://ailawframework.com/ai-rules.md)
- [Privacy impact assessments](https://ailawframework.com/guides/privacy-impact-assessment-ai-australia.md)
- [Procurement tasks](https://ailawframework.com/practice/government-procurement-and-tendering.md)