(Image: Gorkie/Private Media)

Every single year, tech eats more and more of the world. The ripples of new advances in technologies like artificial intelligence — and the machinations of the people, organisations and systems behind these developments — grow to the size of tidal waves by the time they reach Australia. It’s up to the government to protect us on the shores.

This constant acceleration of tech presents an always morphing challenge for Australia’s political system. Our leaders have to grapple with how to get the best out of the fast-moving industry while balancing shielding citizens from the risk, damage and abuses that happen if left unchecked. 

All that is to say, there’s bloody heaps of tech policy stuff happening and it really matters. There’s an endless parade of inquiries, discussion papers and hearings about tech — although, it bears mentioning, it does sometimes feel like Groundhog Day when you find out that a Senate committee is going to take yet another look at the influence of big tech.

Yet the pace of reform in Parliament can seem glacial at times. The federal government responded to the long-running Privacy Act review recommendations, but there’s still no new draft bill. After an inquiry into AI regulation, Industry Minister Ed Husic has been mum about when we can expect to see an actual bill. The misinformation bill’s exposure draft prompted huge backlash, and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has promised changes before bringing it to Parliament. The Digital ID system, earmarked to be up and running by mid-2024, isn’t legislated yet. And after years on the cards, the Albanese government put a stop to a plan for developing mandatory age verification for accessing online adult content.

Meanwhile, outside of Parliament, a set of regulations from parts of the tech industry — including social media companies, ISPs, app stores, device manufacturers and internet hosting services developed by industry and accepted by the eSafety commissioner — came into force last weekend without much ado. A more controversial set of rules has been proposed that would force tech companies who run email and messaging services to scan every piece of content. The ever-productive Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) delivered two more interim reports of its highly influential digital platform services inquiry with meaty proposals ready for the picking. Australia’s tech lobby DIGI kicked X, formerly known as Twitter, from its voluntary misinformation code — industry’s attempt at self-regulation. 

Perhaps it’s unfair to ping Parliament for being slow to take on the big, thorny problems presented by tech. And maybe politicians are to be commended for deliberating over these serious issues. It should also be acknowledged that the stuff happening outside of Canberra can be traced back to decisions by politicians at some point. But it does feel like the government is taking its sweet time to actually pass laws while others are figuring out ways to get things done in the meantime.

The issue is that there’s only so much that can be done from outside of Canberra. The ACCC can conduct remarkable investigations, attempt to enforce compliance with existing laws, and come up with new ideas for protecting Australian consumers, but it can’t enact them. The eSafety commissioner can do even more thanks to their powers to create regulations, but this is mostly limited to enforcing industry co-regulation (enforcement that’s put to the test with Elon Musk’s recent non-compliance) and not wholesale reform. 

Bold and comprehensive tech policy requires courage and conviction from our Parliament. Let’s hope that’s what 2024 will bring.