The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADM) in the workplace has prompted renewed attention to workers’ rights. Governments, unions, and regulators are considering how existing protections may need to be updated; including measures to limit intrusive employer surveillance, ensure workers are consulted on AI-related changes, and to give workers greater control over how their personal data is used.
On 9 April 2026, the Centre for Future Work, in collaboration with the Business and Human Rights Centre at RMIT University (BHRIGHT) and supported by AIRAANZ (the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand), held a symposium on AI at work.
During this symposium, participants examined Australia’s options for effective AI regulation for the world of work, identifying what alliances and coalitions can do to obtain good institutional frameworks for regulation and for ensuring workers have a say in technology use and change.
The symposium brought together people from diverse areas for this important discussion. There was encouragement from participants for more, and broader engagement and research regarding the impact of AI adoption in the world of work, and the shape of work now and in the future, following this adoption.
Presenters at the symposium have generously provided the insights they shared. Read their contributions below.
Associate Professor Darryn Snell, School of Management Business and Human Rights Centre at RMIT University, opened the symposium with a provocation about whether debates about AI at work are adequately taking account of what this ‘disruption’ means for worker voice, job satisfaction, or advancements in decent work. Read here.
Associate Professor Penny Williams, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), delivered a keynote address at the symposium presenting insights into the ways that AI is changing work. Penny notes the benefits and risks for organisations and workers associated with the deployment of AI at work. She concluded with a proposition that rather than asking how AI is changing work, the rapid and continual developments, give rise to a different question: how is decent, human, work maintained? Read here.
Dr Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director (Industrial and Social) at the Centre for Future Work, provided a keynote at the symposium. Fiona mapped Australia’s pathway to a governance framework for AI in Australia. Fiona notes that the Australian Government position has pivoted from adopting mandatory regulatory guardrails shaping the way that AI is used, particularly in high-risk environments like work, to now adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach. Fiona argues that the Australian Government will need to do more to build Australians’ trust of AI at work. Read here.
Nicole McPherson, Assistant National Secretary at the Finance Sector Union (FSU), provided a case study of how AI is operating in the finance industry. Nicole notes that whilst the finance industry has always been shaped by changes in technology, AI has brought a unique set of challenges. Pointing to how workers are being left behind in conversations about the use of AI that impacts on them, Nicole makes the case for more effective rules around consultation with workers that includes workers being given the time to retrain and reskill before their jobs are impacted by AI adoption. Read here.
Associate Professor Jake Goldenfein, Melbourne Law School, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), looked behind the claims that AI is reducing costs and increasing productivity through cutting the number of workers. Jake argued that most organisations would not know how to measure the productivity gains from AI versus the costs associated with introducing AI. He suggested that AI procurement needs to incorporate evaluation measures and that workers should be involved in this ‘evaluation design’. Read here.
Emeritus Professor David Peetz, the Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow at the Centre for Future Work, challenged symposium attendees to consider the low road or the high road approach to using AI at work. David argued that organisations have choices about the road they take and proposed that engaging workers and allowing these workers a say in how, when, and why AI is introduced is good, not only for workers, but also for the productivity and profitability of firms and society. Read here.
Dr Maria Hameed Khan, Research Fellow at QUT, attended the symposium to gain insights into current issues and key debates on the impact of AI on work and how these insights can be incorporated in her research. Maria provides her reflections on the key themes she took away from the symposium. Read here.