Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General

Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General AI Transparency Statement

The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General (the Office) is committed to the responsible and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

This AI transparency statement outlines the Office's approach to AI, aligned with the broader Commonwealth direction and the Office Cyber Security Strategy 2021-26, including:

• classification of AI use, including where AI interacts with or impacts the public
• measures to monitor effectiveness of AI use
• relevant legislation and regulations 3 Also appears in 3 other agencies DPS PBO SENATE
• DTA policy for responsible AI use in Government
• efforts to identify and protect the public against negative impacts, and
• when AI transparency statement was last updated.

To foster an environment where staff and clients can thrive with the support of AI, the Office is committed to continuous learning and adaptation, making sure that its AI strategies evolve alongside the changing expectations of the public, technological advancements and legislation or regulatory changes.

The Office's integration of AI into its operations is guided by:

• Australia's AI ethics principles 5 Also appears in 5 other agencies ART CER DPS HOUSEREPS PBO
• DTA policy for the responsible use of AI in government 3 Also appears in 3 other agencies ART DPS PBO
• the Office Cyber Security Strategy 2021-26
• relevant legislation and regulations 3 Also appears in 3 other agencies DPS PBO SENATE
• relevant external and industry frameworks, and
• relevant learnings and outcomes from trials or implementation of AI within the commonwealth or other relevant organisations. 1 Also appears in 1 other agency PBO

The Office's approach to the adoption of AI is designed to:

• meet staff expectations for modern ICT experiences 1 Also appears in 1 other agency ART
• reduce the risk associated with the use of AI by the Office
• to better understand the benefits and risks of using AI
• to support innovation and unlocking new value using AI, and
• support whole-of-government direction and policy on the use of AI. 2 Also appears in 2 other agencies DPS PBO

The Office has adopted the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) definition of what constitutes artificial Intelligence.

Table 1, below, shows AI use based on the DTA classification system for AI.

Table 1 - AI use classification.

The Office employs limited AI access as part of assistive technologies to the general operations of the agency.

The Office is committed to being transparent about its use of AI and will ensure it is obvious to individuals if:

• they are interacting with an AI system, such as an AI chatbot, or 2 Also appears in 2 other agencies DPS PBO
• the content is completely AI produced, without human review. 2 Also appears in 2 other agencies DPS PBO

How AI is Managed by the Office

The Office intends to meet the requirements under the DTA policy for the responsible use of AI by Government through policy, training and careful management of access to AI tools and services.

The Office's accountable officials are responsible for: (Template language)

• meeting DTA AI policy requirements 2 Also appears in 2 other agencies DPS HOUSEREPS
• building AI maturity within the Office, including aligning to relevant best practice, legislation, regulation and whole-of-government direction and policy
• maintaining a register of AI use cases, and

The Office uses AI awareness training to support staff and clients to use AI safely and responsibly.

The Office has blocked access to unauthorised generative AI tools and services.

The Office employs the commonwealth AI assurance framework to support the safe and ethical use of AI and monitors, logs and reports on the use of authorised AI tools and services.

Business areas that wish to adopt and use AI are required to:

• report new AI use cases or requests to use AI to their director
• notify the ICT security team and follow departmental approval and change management processes before using AI
• undertake testing to evaluate whether AI is suitable for the intended use case 1 Also appears in 1 other agency DPS
• monitor and assess the value and effectiveness of adopted AI solutions against their use case, and adjust as necessary 1 Also appears in 1 other agency DPS
• maintain legal and regulatory compliance 1 Also appears in 1 other agency DPS
• report unintended outcomes, faults or negative impacts from AI use to ICT security team, and
• report if sensitive information is inadvertently entered into Generative AI tools or services 1 Also appears in 1 other agency PBO

Compliance with the Policy for Responsible use of AI

The Office's CIO was appointed as the accountable official on 8 October 2024, following the DTA standard for accountable officials. The CIO is accountable for: (Template language)

• implementation of the DTA Policy for the responsible use of AI in The Office
• reporting new high-risk use cases to the DTA via email to ai@dta.gov.au
• acting as the agency's contact point for whole-of-government coordination
• engaging with whole-of-government AI forums and processes 3 Also appears in 3 other agencies DPS HOUSEREPS SA
• keeping up to date with changing requirements, and 2 Also appears in 2 other agencies DPS HOUSEREPS
• driving engagement with AI training by staff.

The DTA AI Awareness training, quiz and the Office's policy on the acceptable use of generative AI have been made available to staff.

This transparency statement will be reviewed biennially or when significant changes to the use or governance of AI use occur.

For enquiries about AI and its use within the Office, please contact the Office through the Contact page on the Governor-General's website at https://www.gg.gov.au.