Standard for AI transparency statements
Version 1.1
Use the following information to support your agency’s implementation of the policy for responsible use of AI in government.
Your responsibilities
Under the policy, agencies must make publicly available a statement outlining their approach to AI adoption as directed by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).
This standard provides the DTA’s direction which agencies must follow. It establishes a consistent format and expectation for AI transparency statements in the Australian Government. Clear and consistent transparency statements build public trust and make it easier to understand and compare how government agencies adopt AI.
Agencies must provide the following information regarding their use of AI in their transparency statement:
- the intentions behind why the agency uses AI or is considering its adoption
- classification of AI use according to usage patterns and domains
- classification of use where the public may directly interact with, or be significantly impacted by, AI without a human intermediary or intervention
- measures to monitor the effectiveness of deployed AI systems, such as governance or processes
- compliance with applicable legislation and regulation
- efforts to identify and protect the public against negative impacts
- compliance with each requirement under the Policy for responsible use of AI in government
- when the statement was most recently updated.
Statements must use clear, plain language that is consistent with the Australian Government Style Manual and avoid technical jargon. They must also provide or direct to a public contact email for further enquiries.
Agencies must publish transparency statements on their public facing website. It’s recommended that a link to the statement is placed in a global menu, aligned to the approach often taken for privacy policies.
Transparency statements must be reviewed and updated at these junctures:
- at least once a year
- when making a significant change to the agency’s approach to AI
- when any new factor materially impacts the existing statement’s accuracy.
How to apply
Implementing the AI transparency statements
The policy provides a coordinated approach for the use of AI across the Australian Government. It builds public trust by supporting the Australian Public Service (APS) to engage with AI in a responsible way.
Transparency is critical to building public trust and is an important aim of the policy and broader APS Reform agenda. The public should have confidence that agencies monitor the effectiveness of deployed AI systems and have measures to protect against negative impacts.
AI transparency statements help agencies to meet these aims by providing a foundational level of transparency on their use of AI. They publicly disclose:
- how AI is used and managed by the agency
- a commitment to safe and responsible use
- compliance with the policy.
Agency responses to the required information are intended to provide a high-level overview of agency AI use and management in line with the policy intent.
Agencies are encouraged to stocktake individual use cases to determine their classification of AI use. They are not required to list individual use cases or provide use case level detail. However, agencies may choose to provide detail beyond the requirements to publicly explain their approach to AI.
The agency’s accountable officials should provide the DTA with a link to the statement when it is published or updated by emailing ai@dta.gov.au
Identifying in- and out-of-scope AI systems
For agencies to determine the scope of their transparency statements, the policy applies the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) definition of AI:
An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.
Questions about implementation
Accountable officials can contact the DTA with questions about implementing the transparency statements by emailing ai@dta.gov.au.