Matt Bowd
Yesterday’s Federal Government announcement of proposed safety and security protections for frontier AI companies is a welcome step. We support the Government’s approach to strengthening safety, accountability and public confidence as Australia pursues the opportunities AI presents.
The proposed framework would place obligations on developers of the most advanced AI systems, including risk management, incident reporting and independent evaluation, supported by a dedicated regulator. These protections are not yet enacted law, and regional experience can make a valuable contribution as the detail develops.
Regional businesses and communities have a stake in that work, even where they are not directly regulated. Different regions are working towards different futures. Their industries, strengths and ambitions vary. Building on the Government’s approach means ensuring those perspectives help shape an AI future that supports the communities and economies we want to build.
Building on the consultation already happening
We should welcome the regional perspectives already entering the national discussion.
The National Farmers’ Federation’s September submission to the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence makes a practical contribution. It identifies connectivity, infrastructure, access to data and computing capacity, local capability and adoption support as important to regional participation.
It also calls for consideration of the costs and benefits for SMEs, family businesses and regional communities, and for evidence specific to agriculture.
That submission belongs to the broader parliamentary inquiry. It should not be read as an endorsement of the safeguards announced yesterday. Its relevance is that it brings the circumstances of regional industries into the discussion.
We should build on that work by asking what different places want AI to help them achieve.
What does that mean for Ballarat?
Ballarat has already done substantial work to describe the future it wants.
The Community Vision 2025–2035, adopted following more than 1,700 contributions and a 43-person deliberative panel, brings together ambitions for a diverse and agile economy, innovation, inclusion, sustainability, safety and valued heritage.
The Central Highlands’ refreshed regional economic strategy identifies opportunities across advanced manufacturing, agri-food, care and education, and creative industries.
The 2026 Ballarat advocacy agenda also makes a case for strengthening the city’s university role and quality of life, including a proposed university town bringing together teaching and TAFE. That is an advocacy proposal, not an approved project.
These documents provide a starting point for a more useful AI conversation.
Could AI help local manufacturers improve quality and productivity? What would responsible adoption look like for agri-food businesses? How could education providers equip people for changing work? Where might AI support care services or creative businesses, and where would human judgement remain essential?
Those questions connect technology to local ambitions. They also make room to ask who benefits, what skills are needed and what risks people are prepared to accept.
The strategies do not represent every resident’s view. They give us an informed basis for discussion, which local businesses and communities can test and develop.
Local choices include limits
Ballarat’s recent discussion of data centres makes another part of the picture clear.
In September, Council endorsed a motion seeking a moratorium on new or expanded data centres pending a statewide planning and sustainability framework. It sought scrutiny of water, energy and infrastructure impacts, community benefits, and meaningful involvement for councils and communities.
Data-centre planning is a separate issue from the proposed safeguards for frontier AI developers. But the local debate illustrates why regional consultation needs substance: communities want a say in the conditions under which technology-related investment takes place.
An ambition to innovate can sit alongside expectations about sustainability, infrastructure and community benefit. Policy should be able to engage with both.
An invitation to contribute
For BRAIN, this is an opportunity to bring more local experience into the conversation.
I would particularly welcome members sharing their thinking with BRAIN. What is your organisation trying to achieve? Where could AI make a useful contribution? What is holding you back, and what protections would give you greater confidence?
Perspectives from across the wider regional community are valuable too, including from people who are cautious about AI or have decided a particular use is not right for them.
Regional consultation will be most useful when it connects national policy with the futures communities are actively working towards. Ballarat has ambitions worth bringing to that discussion. Let’s contribute the practical experience, questions and ideas that can help shape what comes next.
Sources for review
Federal Government AI safeguards announcement
NFF submission to the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence
Central Highlands Regional Economic Development Strategy Refresh 2026