Australia’s advertising industry has welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s AI agenda, but warn that regulation alone will not secure Australia’s creative future.
TBWA Australia chief AI and innovation officer Lucio Ribeiro said Albanese’s announcement represented a major shift in the way businesses will need to approach artificial intelligence and how AI breaches will be policed.
“It feels like the era of self-regulation is kind of closing,” Ribeiro told B&T. “The compliance risks are shifting from soft to hard.”
The comments follow Albanese’s commitment to protect Australian creators from having their work used to train AI models without permission or payment, declaring that companies should not use Australian books, music, art or news without creator control.
“Anything less is theft,” the Prime Minister said.
The federal government also announced plans to establish an Office of AI within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, while introducing stronger oversight of Australia’s expanding data centre sector.
Ribeiro said the move “demonstrates an intention of moving some of these frameworks and legalities from a productivity story into a governance and orchestration story”.
“We’ve been talking about not being cowboys, not experimenting live with clients,” he said. “It’s irresponsible.”
However, Ribeiro would avoid framing copyright concerns purely through the language of theft, arguing the industry now needs practical frameworks around authorship, attribution and remuneration.
“I would avoid using words like theft,” he said. “I’d elevate the conversation and say, let’s resolve authorship and let’s resolve attribution. We need to have a framework.
“Having an economic model that remunerates people who created IP is good business. Everybody wins.”
TBWA has been exploring these issues through its Disrupt AI Film Festival, which brings together creators, lawyers, universities and technology partners to examine AI copyright and governance.
The agency has also partnered with Swinburne and Deakin Universities on research into how Australian creative work is being used to train AI models, producing six policy recommendations including stronger copyright protections.
Developing AI capability
Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM) CEO & co-founder Louise Cummins said the Prime Minister’s announcement to create an ‘Office of AI’ reflected the reality that artificial intelligence is “no longer just a technology conversation”.
“It’s an economic, workforce, creative and national capability issue,” she said.
Drawing on findings from ACAM’s forthcoming 2026 Australian AI in Marketing Benchmark Report, Cummins said organisations are moving beyond experimentation and now need clearer governance frameworks and implementation plans.
“The challenge now is turning that interest into practical, well-governed action, and a coherent national framework helps rather than hinders that,” she said.
However, she warned Australia must avoid becoming solely a consumer of overseas AI technologies.
“Regulation alone will not create capability, productivity or growth,” she said. “We also need to invest in skills, local IP, research, infrastructure, and the ability to build solutions that work in an Australian context.
“We cannot just consume AI built elsewhere; we need to develop our own capability and know-how as well.”
Rather than attempting to compete directly with global frontier AI models, she said Australia’s opportunity could lie in building specialised tools designed around local industry needs.
Cummins also believes licensing clarity could become “a competitive advantage” as AI-generated content becomes more widespread.
“This is the test case for whether Australia can protect creators and attract AI investment at the same time,” she said.
“Done properly, licensing creates new commercial models for publishers and creators, and gives brands and agencies confidence about where content has come from and whether they have the right to use it.”
The push for stronger AI governance has also been welcomed by Australia’s media and music industries, with calls for the government to move quickly from policy ambition to practical action.
News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said Albanese’s announcement created an opportunity for Australia to position itself as a global leader in AI innovation, infrastructure and intellectual property.
“The Prime Minister has set out a path for Australia to lead the world in AI innovation, infrastructure and intellectual property,” Miller said.
“I urge the government to turn this framework into action, to move fast and deliver for the nation.”
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) CEO Annabelle Herd (pictured below) said the Prime Minister’s message to AI companies “could not have been clearer”, arguing creators must retain ownership and control over how their work is used.
“Australian writers and musicians keep ownership and control of their work. Artists control what that work is worth, not the Government and not a technology company,” Herd said.
“Control of price, value and terms of use are what underpin a commercial licensing market. The artist decides what their work is worth and who may use it. That is how licensing works everywhere else in the world and it is how it should work here.”
She added: “now is the time to get on with licensing”.
“Right now deals are being signed across music, journalism and publishing around the world. Australia’s creative industries are ready to do business.”
