Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (part 1 of 2)
17 September 2026
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Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence Australian Parliament
17:48 - 20:00
Speaker 13
I declare open this hearing of the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to elders past and present. I extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. My name is Josh Burns, I'm the federal member for Macnamara and chair of this committee. I'm joined by our deputy chair, Senator Jordon Steele-John, as well as Senators Cadell, Sheldon, Senator David Pocock here in the room, and I understand Ms Chaney, Mr Hastie, Ms Mascarenhas and Senator Smith will be joining us also via videoconference and probably in and out today.
The committee will be conducting today's hearing, as I say, via videoconference and in person. I remind all witnesses that in giving evidence to the committee they are protected by parliamentary privilege. It is unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on account of evidence given to a committee and as such may be treated by the Senate as a contempt. It is also a contempt to give false or misleading evidence. Witnesses have the right to request to be heard in camera.
The Senate has resolved that an officer of a department of the Commonwealth or of a state shall not be asked to give opinions on matters of policy and shall be given reasonable opportunity to refer questions asked of the officer to superior officers or to a minister. This resolution does not preclude questions asking for explanations of policies or factual questions about when and how policies are adopted. If a witness objects to answering a question, they should state the ground upon which the objection is made and the committee will determine whether it will insist on an answer, having regard to the ground on which it is claimed.
If the committee determines to insist on an answer, a witness may request that the answer be given in camera. Commonwealth officers appearing today are also reminded of the Senate order specifying the process by which a claim of public interest immunity should be raised. A copy of the order is available via the secretariat. I remind senators of their obligation and members, senators and members of their obligations under the behavior code of Australian parliamentarians to treat witnesses with dignity, courtesy, fairness and respect. I remind committee members and witnesses who are appearing via video conference and who are not speaking to mute their microphones.
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