Australia is shifting away from a single AI statute towards a layered regulatory framework comprising amended legislation, regulator guidance and state-level initiatives. 

Dr Clement Chen, Senior Lecturer at the ANU Law School, argues that a single, comprehensive AI statute may not be the most effective approach for every jurisdiction. Instead, speaking at the 2026 Korean Public Law Association's first standalone International Conference in Seoul, he argued that countries can build on established public law principles such as fairness, reason, accountability and equality across governments, courts and state institutions to ensure automated decisions remain transparent and open to challenge.  

Decisions aided by AI should never be justified simply because “the computer said so”, he explained. 

His arguments are also drawing the attention of international governments. In August 2025, the Attorney-General of the Solomon Islands invited Dr Chen to deliver the keynote address at the second Attorney-General's Conference of Parties in Honiara. While there, he spoke to more than 100 government officials and legal practitioners about how different legal systems are responding to AI-driven discrimination. He also delivered a presentation, ‘AI and Discrimination: Three Legal Approaches in the Public Sector’. 

Dr Chen said, 

"It was a real privilege to share Australia's experience with colleagues across the Asia-Pacific, from public law scholars in Seoul to senior government lawyers in Honiara, all of them wrestling with the same question of how AI in the public sector should be governed within very different constitutional and cultural settings.” 

“I feel fortunate to work in comparative public law on a problem that matters so much to how the state relates to its citizens, and to keep learning from the distinct path each jurisdiction is taking,” he added.