General Resolution 0084G

Chapter:
18 - Industrial Relations
Mover:
Seconder:
 
 
Source:
My Private Notes


Preamble
​The public service is a major employer delivering critical services for the Australian community. The use of AI in our public service will not only effect public servants but the community as a whole. 

This presents both opportunity and risk, and adoption of AI must be done in a way that fosters accountability, transparency, and confidence in the public sector. 

Robodebt demonstrated the risks of automated decision-making, CPSU members working in Services Australia raised their concerns and were consistently ignored. AI use in the public service without real worker consultation and engagement and appropriate mechanisms for oversight and review would be disastrous. 

If AI is used in recruitment, we know that it can reproduce sexist and racist biases in its filtering processes. We need a diverse public sector that reflects our diverse community, and public service recruitment needs to identify the most suitable person for a role, whatever their background. 

We know if the Coalition are in government in future they would try to cut jobs and we need to ensure that we don’t end up with a scenario where Australian pensioners, job seekers, Australians living with disability and anyone accessing our public services are forced to interact with AI agents instead of public servants.

Unless the adoption of AI technology is carefully managed, it risks the security of the personal data of Australians, and even confidential or classified government material, exposing Federal and ACT governments to additional risk in an increasingly complex international security environment. Federal and ACT governments have the opportunity to be model employers in the adoption of AI and ensure it is implemented safely and responsibly in the workplace.
General Resolution

AI in the public service

This conference calls on Federal and ACT Labor governments to be a model employer through the safe and responsible adoption of AI in the public service. This must include: 
  • Genuine consultation and engagement with workers and their unions 
  • Training in the ethical and safe use of AI in the workplace
  • Worker protections against AI use for decisions relating to their jobs such as performance management, surveillance, rostering, recruitment and selection 
  • Humans are required to make decisions on any government processes, and any decisions made by workers with the support of AI to be transparent and reviewable 
  • Guardrails on data use to train AI models and to address Australian data sovereignty
  • Appropriate legislation and regulation to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' Intellectual Property, cultural sovereignty, self-determination and rights. 

Conference notes that the government must ensure they use AI in a way that does not erode public trust in government, and that worker engagement is critical to achieving this.