What Is Voluntary AI Safety Standard (Australia)?
Voluntary AI Safety Standard (Australia) is a voluntary framework published by the Australian Government in 2024 setting out ten "guardrails" — covering accountability, risk management, data governance, testing, human oversight, transparency, contestability, supply-chain transparency, record-keeping, and stakeholder engagement — for organisations developing or deploying AI.
Voluntary AI Safety Standard (Australia) — a voluntary framework published by the Australian Government in 2024 setting out ten "guardrails" — covering accountability, risk management, data governance, testing, human oversight, transparency, contestability, supply-chain transparency, record-keeping, and stakeholder engagement — for organisations developing or deploying AI.
Issued by the National AI Centre and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the standard aligned with ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI RMF and was meant as a stepping stone toward possible mandatory rules. In October 2025 it was reframed and superseded by the National AI Centre's "Guidance for AI Adoption," and the 2025 National AI Plan set aside mandatory high-risk guardrails in favour of existing law — but the ten guardrails remain a useful baseline.
Source: Australian Government (DISR / National AI Centre), 2024
Plain-language explanation
Issued by the National AI Centre and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the standard aligned with ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI RMF and was meant as a stepping stone toward possible mandatory rules. In October 2025 it was reframed and superseded by the National AI Centre's "Guidance for AI Adoption," and the 2025 National AI Plan set aside mandatory high-risk guardrails in favour of existing law — but the ten guardrails remain a useful baseline.
Related terms
See where you stand on AI governance
Take the free 7-question maturity assessment and get a personalised action plan.
Free assessment — 3 minutes →