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AI incidents in Australia
Headlights has documented 34 AI incidents in Australia, 15% of the library, from 2015 to 2026. The behaviours most often in the record are automation bias (7), rules-behaviour gap (7), overconfidence (5).
34 incidents, newest first
HD-INC-217OpenAI Agents Reached Two NSW Systems, a Crime Data Tool and a Fire Data ApplicationAustralia · 2026HD-INC-216An OpenAI Model Got Non-Public Access to a Medicare Statistics Service, OpenAI SaidAustralia · 2026HD-INC-201Home Affairs' System Ended a Bridging Visa Unlawfully, the Commonwealth Ombudsman FoundAustralia · 2023HD-INC-177A KPMG partner used AI to pass the firm's own mandatory AI test, and 28 staff instances were identifiedAustralia · 2026HD-INC-176A self-represented worker relied on AI generated material that argued the wrong date, and was ordered to pay costsAustralia · 2026HD-INC-097Australia's Merit Protection Commissioner overturned most decisions from an AI-assisted recruitment round, and a union told Parliament experienced staff were being screened outAustralia · 2022HD-INC-096Australia's federal police trialled Clearview's face-search tool on Australians without a privacy check, and the regulator found it breached privacy lawAustralia · 2021HD-INC-082Flight Centre handed developers at a hackathon a dataset with thousands of customers' passport and credit card details, and the privacy regulator found it broke the lawAustralia · 2020HD-INC-0819News Melbourne aired an altered image of MP the MP, reportedly exposing her midriff and enlarging her chest, and attributed the change to Photoshop's automationAustralia · 2024HD-INC-080NSW Police risk-scored people, many of them children, onto a targeting list for repeated stops, and ended the program after a watchdog inquiryAustralia · 2023HD-INC-079Trivago advertised the best hotel deal while its algorithm favoured the advertiser that paid it most, and the penalty was $44.7 millionAustralia · 2022HD-INC-078An insurer promised loyalty discounts while a pricing algorithm capped them, and the Federal Court imposed what was then a record $40 million penaltyAustralia · 2023HD-INC-077Revenue NSW took money from fine defaulters' bank accounts by automation for years, and the Ombudsman found the process contrary to lawAustralia · 2024HD-INC-076Australia changed the law so a human had to decide before a job seeker's payment was cancelled, and the automated system kept cancelling anywayAustralia · 2025HD-INC-067A journalist cloned his own voice with AI and walked through the voiceprint security on Centrelink's phone self-service lineAustralia · 2023HD-INC-066A child protection worker used ChatGPT on a Children's Court report, and the regulator found it disclosed a child's details and understated riskAustralia · 2024HD-INC-062An Australian university accused thousands of students of AI misconduct using a detector it knew was unreliableAustralia · 2025HD-INC-061A Sydney station ran an AI-generated radio host named 'Thy' for six months without telling listeners she wasn't realAustralia · 2025HD-INC-0587-Eleven scanned the faces of customers filling in feedback surveys at 700 stores, and Australia's privacy regulator ordered the faceprints destroyedAustralia · 2021HD-INC-057ChatGPT reportedly told users an Australian mayor had gone to prison for bribery, when he was the whistleblower who exposed itAustralia · 2023HD-INC-041An autonomous mine truck was cleared to drive a path no one had marked on the ground, and it hit a manned water cartAustralia · 2015HD-INC-025An Australian Lawyer Relied on ChatGPT and Filed 17 Cases That Did Not ExistAustralia · 2025HD-INC-024Australia's eSafety Regulator Found Four AI Companion Apps Failing to Protect ChildrenAustralia · 2025HD-INC-023Clearview AI Built a Face Search Engine From Billions of Scraped Photos Without ConsentAustralia · 2021HD-INC-022Bunnings Scanned Shoppers' Faces Without Telling Them, and Won Only Half Its AppealAustralia · 2024HD-INC-021Kmart Scanned Shoppers' Faces in 28 Stores, and the Privacy Commissioner Found It UnlawfulAustralia · 2025HD-INC-016Commonwealth Bank Reported 1 Billion Australian Dollars in Suspected Home Loan FraudAustralia · 2026HD-INC-015Commonwealth Bank Replaced Workers With AI. Then Reversed Course.Australia · 2025HD-INC-014Woolworths' AI Assistant Olive Talked About Its Mother and Seemed to Claim It Was HumanAustralia · 2026HD-INC-013Melbourne Law Firm Ordered to Pay Costs Over Fake Citations in a Native Title ClaimAustralia · 2025HD-INC-012A Senior Barrister Filed AI-Invented Cases and Quotes in a Victorian Murder TrialAustralia · 2025HD-INC-011The First Australian Lawyer Disciplined for AI Misuse Handed a Judge Fake CasesAustralia · 2024HD-INC-010Deloitte's $440K AUD report for the Australian government cited a federal court quote that did not existAustralia · 2025HD-INC-009Robodebt, Australia's automated welfare-debt scheme raised $1.76 billion in unlawful debts against 443,000 peopleAustralia · 2016
Related topics
- Professional & legal services 8
- Government & public administration 7
- Retail, hospitality & travel 6
- Automation bias 7
- Rules-behaviour gap 7
- Overconfidence 5
- Normalisation of deviance 3
Cite this page: Harris, E. (2026). AI incidents in Australia. Headlights. https://useheadlights.com/topics/country/australia/