Practical workplace controls

AI Best Practices for Australian Workplaces

A practical route from an AI idea to an approved, monitored and reviewable workplace use. Start with the controls that match the people, data and decisions affected.

Use the governance checklist Download practical templates

A workable sequence

Eight practices that make AI use visible and manageable.

The Australian Government's Guidance for AI Adoption is voluntary guidance, not legislation. It recommends organisation-wide and use-case controls. The sequence below turns those principles into workplace actions without implying that any checklist guarantees compliance or prevents every harm.

Discover and register

Record each AI system, embedded feature and staff use. Capture its owner, purpose, provider, data, users and affected people.

Use the AI register template

Approve the use case

Define what the tool may and may not do. Separate low-impact assistance from uses that influence employment, safety, access or other consequential outcomes.

Set approved-use rules

Assess risk and impact

Consider privacy, security, safety, bias, accessibility, reliability, worker impact and failure modes before deployment.

Review workplace AI risks

Protect data

Limit inputs, access, retention and sharing. The OAIC recommends due diligence, privacy by design and controls proportionate to the intended use.

Read OAIC AI privacy guidance

Consult and prepare people

Check the applicable award, enterprise agreement and WHS or OHS duties. Explain the proposed change, listen to affected workers and provide role-specific training.

Support employees

Test in context

Test realistic inputs, edge cases and affected groups. Record limitations, acceptance criteria and who can stop or override the system.

Design meaningful human control

Monitor and respond

Track performance, complaints, near misses, drift, security events and changes to the provider. Give people a clear route to report concerns.

Work through practical scenarios

Review and retire

Reassess the use when its purpose, model, data, law or workplace changes. Retire systems that are no longer suitable and preserve required records.

Use the governance framework

Choose your starting point

Practical resources for the task in front of you.

Set organisation-wide rules

Define approved tools, prohibited data, required reviews and escalation routes.

AI policy and shadow AI guide

Assess one proposed use

Document benefits, affected people, failure modes, controls and residual risk.

AI impact assessment template

Evaluate a provider

Ask about data use, security, subcontractors, model changes, testing, support and exit arrangements.

Vendor questionnaire

Prepare managers

Give leaders clear approval boundaries, oversight duties and reporting expectations.

Employer guidance

Prepare workers

Explain approved tools, safe prompting, output checking and how to raise a concern.

AI literacy and training guide

Respond to an incident

Contain the issue, preserve records, assess harm and escalate possible privacy, safety, cyber, employment or contractual notifications.

AI incident report template

Apply the controls

Adjust the practice to the use case.

Workplace use	Questions to resolve before use	Useful next page
Recruitment or promotion	What data and proxies are used? Has the system been tested for discriminatory or inaccessible outcomes? Who reviews and can overturn the result?	Rights and options
Rostering and allocation	Could the tool change regular rosters, hours, workload or safety? Which consultation clauses and human exceptions apply?	Legal awareness
Meeting transcription	Who is notified, what information is captured, where is it stored, who receives it and when is it deleted?	Meeting transcription scenario
Generative AI	Which inputs are prohibited? How will factual, confidential, copyright, privacy and security risks be checked before use?	Organisation risk test
Agentic AI	What systems and data can the agent reach? Which actions need approval, how are logs reviewed and how can access be revoked quickly?	Agentic AI definition

Sources and currency

Jurisdiction: Australia. Sources checked: 27 October 2026. Australian Government and regulator material below is guidance unless it identifies a binding legal obligation. NIST and OECD resources are voluntary international frameworks. Applicable legislation, awards, agreements, contracts and state or territory requirements must be checked for each workplace.