Albanese signs declaration with world leaders urging human control over AI
Anthony Albanese has joined the leaders of more than 20 countries in signing a statement calling to bring the rapid growth of artificial intelligence under control.
“AI must remain under human direction, oversight and control. It must be developed and used in line with international law,” the statement said.
Leading scientists and executives are warning that the pace of development could outpace our ability to manage emerging risks.
The Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Spain’s PM, Pedro Sánchez, and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, also signed the statement.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve lives, to strengthen our economy and productivity, and to massively advance science and medical breakthroughs,” Albanese said.
But humans need to be in control of it. If it’s going to be successful, then we need to make sure that humans are at the centre of everything that occurs.
Albanese told reporters Australia had played a “central role” in the statement.
I was in direct discussions with [Finnish] president [Alexander] Stubb, and we continue to engage with our neighbours.
The statement also sounded the alarm on AI systems being able to circumvent safeguards and gain unauthorised access to several systems.
The signatories called for AI companies to develop transparent safety protocols and for governments to develop common standards for the technology.
It also urged the UN to explore options to create an international institution that could set out AI standards.
Key events
Victoria police warn of heightened family violence risk on AFL grand final day
Victoria police have issued a warning ahead of the AFL grand final this weekend, saying officials know there is a heightened risk of family violence during major sporting events.
“This is because we see families come together and offenders may use periods of extended contact to increase their abusive behaviours,” a Victoria police spokesperson said this morning.
There were 315 family violence incidents on AFL grand final day in 2025 and 301 in 2024.
The spokesperson added:
While we have not seen a significant increase in family violence incidents on Grand Final Day or the extended weekend in recent years, we urge the community to look out for each other and report any incidents to police.
There is never an excuse for family violence and Victoria Police will ensure each crime is investigated and all offenders are held to account.
Bragg to float letting homebuyers use super as collateral for mortgages
Andrew Bragg, the shadow minister for housing, will float a new proposal for homebuyers to use their superannuation as collateral for mortgages.
Bragg will detail the idea during a speech today. He told ABC NewsRadio this morning:
The general idea here is we want to have a country where more people are retired homeowners, and one of the most worrying trends we have is the growth in retired renters. Now, there’s nothing wrong with renting of course, but for a lot of people, they would rather live in their own house in retirement.
And so we want to make sure that we’re properly calibrating all the options people might like to have in their working life to use their own savings to promote home ownership.
When asked if it would be risky for people to take out loans larger than they could service, Bragg said the risk right now is the current trajectory for older renters.
Today’s address is about setting out the rationale for having a more sophisticated debate. … We are becoming a country which is going to have a lot more retired renters, but also people potentially with quite high superannuation balances. That doesn’t seem to be the best outcome for all people, which is why we’re having this debate, because we want to be a nation of homeowners.
Penry Buckley
Police interviews able to be used as evidence-in-chief in NSW sexual assault trials under new rules
More on today’s changes to the Criminal Procedure Act in NSW …
Under the changes, recorded police interviews will also be able to used as evidence-in-chief in sexual assault trials, requiring complainants to only provide their evidence once, including in the case of a retrial.
The NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner, Hannah Tonkin, says:
Allowing complainants’ pre-recorded evidence in chief to be used during sexual assault trials will enable them to give their account much earlier, in a safe setting, and to start rebuilding their lives sooner.
The government is also amending the law around the handling sexual assault complainants’ counselling communications so that courts can only consider them when it is necessary, rather than automatically or out of an abundance of caution.
University of Sydney-led research, due to report back in mid-2027, is considering alternative models for reform. Recent reporting has revealed how complainants’ counselling records, including audio recordings, have been used by alleged perpetrators’ legal teams.
Penry Buckley
Minns says shooting of 11-year-old ‘very tragic reminder’ of danger of guns
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says the shooting of an 11-year-old boy in north-west Sydney is a “very tragic reminder of how dangerous guns are”.
An 18-year-old man was charged yesterday with concealing a serious indictable offence after the incident, while two other 18-year-old men were released pending further inquiries. Speaking to ABC News Breakfast this morning, the premier said:
It’s obviously an incredibly distressing situation. It’s the subject of a major police investigation. I understand the adults in the house are not cooperating with police. We just urge anyone that has any information about this horrible event – we’ve got [an 11-year-old] in a serious condition in a NSW hospital – to come forward.
It’s also a very tragic reminder of how dangerous guns are, and often the people who are the victims of guns, are innocent people, many times they are children. They’re very dangerous, and we need less of them in our community.
Minns was asked about comments made by police deputy commissioner Peter McKenna after a spate of violence over the weekend, including the alleged murders of three women. McKenna said the government needed to be “throwing every resource” at domestic violence prevention. Minns said:
Well, Peter’s an incredibly straight talker on these issues, and he’s 100% right. I mean, the number of violent crimes against often innocent people, innocent family members is hugely distressing. It’s an urgent emergency for our state and we need to throw everything we possibly can at it.
NSW to pilot ‘ground rules’ hearings in sexual assault trials
Penry Buckley
A pilot of “ground rules” hearings will reduce distress and trauma for complainants in sexual assault trials alongside other reforms being introduced to NSW parliament today, the state government says.
Ground rules hearings, which are already used in child sexual assault proceedings in NSW, will be piloted in sexual assault trials at Parramatta, Wollongong and Dubbo district courts from March next year until 2030.
They will provide directions about how complainants will be questioned, including the duration and manner, topics put to them and aides to support their evidence. The government says hearings will require pre-trial discussion about jury directions regarding consent and differences in accounts “without compromising the accused’s right to test the prosecution case”.
The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, says:
Sexual assault complainants and witnesses are especially vulnerable in our justice system. We want to help them give their best evidence by ensuring they do not need to tell their story multiple times and deterring inappropriate and irrelevant questioning in court.
Greens call for triple zero network to be brought back under independent control
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young spoke this morning about the idea for a national authority to oversee the triple zero network, which is responsible for emergency call operations.
A Senate committee said yesterday in a report that triple zero should be taken out of private hands.
The plan would move control of Australia’s emergency call system away from commercial entities like Telstra to a dedicated public authority.
Hanson-Young told RN Breakfast this morning:
At the moment, Telstra is contracted to do this work. The taxpayers pay it. That’s your money, my money, every Australian taxpayer’s money to fund the operation of triple zero … We think it’s time to really consider bringing that back under independent control so that the customer, the public, the safety is put first – it’s not seen as some kind of chore or add-on for a privately run company …
There needs to be an overhaul of the telecommunications laws. Standards and reliability guarantees must be in the law. Compensation must be available for people. And triple zero must be run for the safety of people, not the profits of corporations.
‘Monetised misogyny’ online is contributing to domestic violence, Chalmers says
Jim Chalmers was also asked earlier if the government would support a national royal commission into violence against women and children. He said the government had chosen to increase resourcing for child and family violence and domestic violence, adding to the ABC:
We’re trying to deal with the sources of all of this violence, whether it be more security in the housing system, whether it be the monetised misogyny that we see online – there are a whole range of factors feeding in here.
We do acknowledge that all of this violence is obviously entirely unacceptable. It’s horrific in every way. That’s why we’ve increased the resources and that’s why we all need to do better to do everything we can to make a difference here.
The Minderoo foundation put out a new report yesterday that found tech-based abuse disproportionately affects women, particularly on dating platforms. It found that 99% of women surveyed said they had experienced at least one instance of tech-based abuse on dating platforms in the past three months.
Chalmers says Australia has ‘a lot going for us’, despite ‘pretty serious’ economic pressures
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is making the media rounds this morning after the release yesterday of the intergenerational report.
He said the government remains optimistic, despite some “pretty serious budget pressures and economic risks”. He told RN Breakfast:
We’ve got a lot going for us as well. And one of the things we’ve got going for us, even in the context of these very substantial budget pressures that come from things like ageing and other pressures in our economy, is we’ve actually got a budget which is substantially stronger than other countries.
Chalmers stressed that the difficulty of entering home ownership remained the “defining intergenerational challenge” facing too many Australians.
We could have left everything exactly as it was. We could have acknowledged the intergenerational unfairness that exists in the housing market and done nothing about it. We chose to make some difficult changes.
Tanya Plibersek says we need to use ‘all of our big systems’ to better tackle domestic violence
Tanya Plibersek, the minister for social services, said she was struck that a spate of alleged domestic violence incidents this weekend weren’t previously identified by police.
Plibersek spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying that fact showed how the country needed to use “all of our big systems”, including health, mental health, the school system, Tafe and the university sector to help identify and tackle risk. She said:
All of these big points of contact as potential systems where we can identify that there is a risk that there’s family, domestic or sexual violence happening and be able to intervene earlier.
She went on to say increased funding was part of the solution and “bigger changes” were needed:
It’s not just about funding. There’s also, I think, a much broader role for our community …
Support for victims and survivors, making sure that we’re intervening earlier, enhancing supports for children and young people, focusing particularly on sexual violence, which is the area where we’ve seen really extraordinary growth in incidents, focusing on reducing online harms and holding perpetrators to account. All of these things will be part of our second action plan as well.
Albanese signs declaration with world leaders urging human control over AI
Anthony Albanese has joined the leaders of more than 20 countries in signing a statement calling to bring the rapid growth of artificial intelligence under control.
“AI must remain under human direction, oversight and control. It must be developed and used in line with international law,” the statement said.
Leading scientists and executives are warning that the pace of development could outpace our ability to manage emerging risks.
The Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Spain’s PM, Pedro Sánchez, and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, also signed the statement.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve lives, to strengthen our economy and productivity, and to massively advance science and medical breakthroughs,” Albanese said.
But humans need to be in control of it. If it’s going to be successful, then we need to make sure that humans are at the centre of everything that occurs.
Albanese told reporters Australia had played a “central role” in the statement.
I was in direct discussions with [Finnish] president [Alexander] Stubb, and we continue to engage with our neighbours.
The statement also sounded the alarm on AI systems being able to circumvent safeguards and gain unauthorised access to several systems.
The signatories called for AI companies to develop transparent safety protocols and for governments to develop common standards for the technology.
It also urged the UN to explore options to create an international institution that could set out AI standards.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over for Martin. It’s a gloomy morning here in Sydney. Let’s get to it.
Albanese meets with EU leaders ahead of UN general assembly
Anthony Albanese has met with Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly, to talk free trade, China, critical mineral and AI.
The prime minister and president of the European Commission were joined by the president of the European Council, António Costa.
The trio discussed geopolitical issues, including ongoing support for Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and Iran, as well as relations with China and the Pacific.
They also agreed to continue deepening cooperation on economic security – including on critical and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
Cooperation between the EU and Australia when it comes to critical raw minerals was also on the agenda, ahead of the Team Europe business mission to Australia next month.
“They agreed to remain in close contact with a view to explore the potential for further strengthening and deepening of EU-Australia relations,” a statement read.
It comes after the EU invited Canada to become an associate member – though the council has no such category – with some speculating Australia could follow suit.
We’re doing everything we can to curb domestic violence, Chalmers says
Catie McLeod
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the Albanese government is committed to doing “everything we can” to address to domestic violence after a horrific weekend of violence in New South Wales.
Chalmers made the comments to ABC’s 7.30 program last night after a mother allegedly fatally stabbed a child and wounded two others in the Blue Mountains and, separately, three other women were allegedly murdered inside their homes across the state.
Chalmers noted expert views that a lack of accessible housing played a role in domestic violence, along with the “magnitude” of misognystic content online. He also said frontline staffing was crucial.
I work closely with the prime minister and [women’s minister] Katy Gallagher and the relevant ministers to make sure that police and others get the resourcing they need, working with state governments.
Chalmers says migration needed for falling birth rate
Catie McLeod
Jim Chalmers says migration is necessary to support Australia’s ageing population, and can help the nation as birthrates tumble.
The three-yearly intergenerational report found that the declining birthrate meant more Australians will be dying than being born in 40 years’ time – the first time the report had made such a prediction.
Chalmers told 7.30 Australia’s birthrates were falling faster than anticipated just a few years ago, because people are taking the decision to have smaller families later in life.
He said, in this context, “any objective observer would conclude that we need responsible levels of migration” to support the ageing population:
Migration is a force for good in our economy and in our society.
We will continue to make the case for getting that net overseas migration down in the most responsible way, that balances all of the key considerations in our economy and in local communities.
His comments come after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, last week unveiled long-awaited changes to immigration rules, promising to bring down net overseas migration (Nom) to 245,000 this financial year, and 225,000 in 2027-28.
City of Sydney council bans smartglasses in community facilities
Catie McLeod
The City of Sydney has banned smartglasses in all its pools, libraries, gyms, childcare centres and town halls.
The council agreed to update signage and guidance to prevent people wearing the glasses in community facilities, due to growing privacy and harassment concerns.
In a statement, Greens councillor Matthew Thompson said his motion included exemptions for those who use the glasses as accessibility devices, including those with vision and hearing loss.
He urged the federal government to do more to regulate the glasses and prevent their misuse, saying that:
Overseas we’re seeing women being targeted and harassed in public and recorded without their consent. We don’t want what’s happening in the US to happen here.
That’s why we’re banning smart glasses and other wearable recording devices from all of our pools, gyms, childcare [centres], libraries and other council spaces.
Cheap wearable devices like smart glasses are already flooding the market. But instead of stopping this problem, the federal Labor government has dumped it on to councils to sort out.
We need an import ban on these cheap, intrusive devices until we have stronger privacy protections and clear standards implemented nationally.
Last week, Sydney’s Canterbury-Bankstown council introduced its own restrictions on the technology. Its mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, decried what he called “pervert glasses” as the council barred the wearable tech from public pools.
In August, Brisbane city council became the first to ban the glasses from pools. Melbourne’s Yarra council has banned them from playgrounds, childcare centres and gyms.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the Albanese government is committed to doing “everything we can” to address to domestic violence after a weekend of violence in New South Wales. More coming up.
