Policy · Administrative & Public Law
Agency AI transparency statement under the DTA standard: advice note and template for government clients
An advice note and template for a Commonwealth agency's public AI transparency statement that covers each minimum element of the DTA standard and links it to the agency's use case register, privacy policy and review processes.
- Kind
- Policy. A policy or procedure for a firm or client.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when advising a non-corporate Commonwealth entity (or a body that adopts the policy) on its AI transparency statement, whether first publication, annual review or a change in AI use. Do not use it as a substitute for the agency's internal use case register or impact assessments.
How AI may be used
AI may draft the statement from the agency's internal AI use case register and policies. The accountable official must verify every statement against the register and the facts before publication, because an inaccurate public statement can mislead the public and undermine later decisions.
AI may
- Draft each section from the agency's use case register, AI policy and impact assessments supplied by the agency.
- Classify each use by usage pattern and domain, and flag uses where the public may interact with or be significantly affected by AI without human review.
- Compare the draft with the agency's APP privacy policy and published automation information for inconsistencies.
AI must not
- Must not describe any AI use, safeguard or human review step that the register or the agency has not confirmed.
- Must not enter security-classified, sensitive or personal information from the register into a tool not approved for that classification.
- Must not state that the agency complies with the policy or legislation without the accountable official's confirmation.
The lawyer checks
- Each minimum element of the DTA standard is present and accurate, in plain language, with a contact email and last-updated date.
- Statements about legal authority for automated decisions are correct for each enabling Act.
- From 10 December 2026, the agency's APP privacy policy contains the APP 1.8 information and is consistent with the statement.
- The accountable official has signed off and the DTA has been sent the link.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Administrative & Public Law
- Freedom of information access application (Commonwealth, with NSW and NZ variants and review follow-ups)
- Request for a statement of reasons for an administrative decision, with reasons-deficiency table
- Request for reasons and review of an automated or AI-assisted government decision
- Application to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review: completion guide (including the Generative AI Practice Direction)
- Complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman: preparation guide and complaint summary
All precedents for Administrative & Public Law · Tasks and AI use in this area