Thursday, 27th August 2026

Prime Minister of Australia

Australia’s National Cabinet agreed on August 26, 2026 to work together on new national artificial intelligence laws, with the Commonwealth Government expected to introduce legislation in early 2027. The proposed framework will include measures relating to the development and location of data centres, with governments seeking to protect Australia’s energy systems, manage electricity costs and maintain community support for data centre development.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Commonwealth expects to have draft legislation by the end of 2026. The government intends to use its constitutional powers to establish a national framework rather than having separate systems across Australia’s states and territories.

A key focus of the discussion was the rapid development of AI-related data centres and their electricity requirements. National Cabinet agreed that data centre development should take account of energy costs, electricity system impacts and appropriate locations. The Prime Minister said the objective is to ensure that attracting investment in data centres does not undermine the social licence for their development.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli highlighted Queensland’s different position due to the state’s ownership of electricity generation, transmission and distribution assets. He said this provides Queensland with greater control over its energy mix and its approach to accommodating data centre development. Queensland will be able to participate in the national framework while retaining flexibility to reflect its specific circumstances.

The Prime Minister said the national approach recognises that states and territories have different conditions while seeking to avoid eight separate regulatory systems for AI and data centre development.

The National Cabinet meeting also addressed gender-based violence, firearms reform, avian flu preparedness and fuel security. The Commonwealth announced an additional $125 million for measures to protect Australia from bird flu and signed a new National Firearms Agreement with the states and territories.