Several agencies were (falsely) named and shamed for failure to comply with new artificial intelligence rules because their emails had been sent to the watchdog's spam folder.
And no, this isn't a draft plotline for a sixth-season reboot of Utopia.
Government departments were required to appoint accountable AI officials ahead of the wider rollout of the APS' AI plan. Under the rules, agencies were required to notify the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) of their nominated officials by November 30, 2024.
On December 5, the DTA sent out an identical batch of emails scolding more than a dozen agencies for failing to appoint an AI officer by the deadline.
According to a large cache of emails released by the Senate last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was one of more than a dozen to write back to point out they had already nominated a person for the role.
Despite the correction, the ABS was listed on the DTA's register of agencies that failed to comply with the order in a draft answer to a question on notice sent in March 2026.
In response to a "courtesy notification" sent by DTA in March 2026, the ABS wrote back demanding the "correction of an administrative error for the public record".
The Organ and Tissue Authority, which met both of its responsible AI obligations, was hit with multiple non-compliance notices last year due to "technical email filtering issues" blocking their email replies.
The DTA was also forced to correct the record with a Senate committee after incorrectly naming the agency as being non-compliant during an estimates hearing on February 25, 2025.
"This is the second time our agency has been flagged as non-compliant, despite having met the requirements," chief operating officer Belinda Small wrote in an email a week later.
"Please provide assurance that this has not been documented on any formal reporting."
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was also wrongly flagged after having published its AI transparency statement days before the government's deadline.
"Not sure of the methodology the DTA has applied in gathering this data, but I did not receive any request for confirmation. Appreciate if you could update your records," ACMA chief information officer Chris Dale fired back in a response.
Financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC and the Fair Work Commission (FWC) were also wrongly singled out for non-compliance, resulting in more written complaints.
"Sorry, but I don't understand the proposed answer to the QoN ... The Fair Work Commission was compliant and published AI transparency statements by 28th February 2025, but is incorrectly listed as non-compliant," an FWC official said in an email.
In a statement to Public Eye, DTA deputy CEO Lucy Poole explained the agency relied on a "desktop review" of appointments and transparency statements.
"We continue to iterate on our AI policy framework to ensure a high standard of accountability and transparency," she said.
There's been a quiet changing of the guard at the National Australia Day Council.
Interim chief Todd Ashurst DSM, an Afghanistan veteran and former defence industry chief executive, is shaking things up at the council that doles out the nation's highest awards in the annual Australia Day honours.
Mr Ashurst told Senate estimates he'd tweaked the council's website, which, shockingly, did not have the Australian flag on it.
"As a former soldier myself, I thought that was important to rectify," Mr Ashurst said in response to questioning by One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts.
Senator Roberts noted the council had also "removed the flash screen acknowledgement of country, and instead displayed the Australian Aboriginal flag in your header, which is a fair compromise which I hope leads to further engagement with Australia Day by the Aboriginal Community".
Public Eye can't help but wonder what the council's former board director Jody Broun thinks of all this.
Ms Broun is a Yinjibarndi woman who has 30 years of experience in Aboriginal affairs, most recently as chief executive of the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
She's left the board, as has Bo Reményi, a paediatric cardiologist who before joining was 2018 Northern Territory Australian of the Year, honoured for her work raising awareness about rheumatic heart disease in remote indigenous communities.
Mr Ashurst said the new approach was "a deliberate choice in accordance with Australian government convention."
"We obviously are aiming for Australia Day and the Australian of the Year Awards to be as inclusive as possible," he told the committee.
Flags and the like aren't all that's changing at the council, which Mr Ashurst said was also "tightening up" vetting processes for Australian of the Year award nominees.
Last year's NT Young Australian of the Year - recognised for his work in youth reoffending - was charged with assault just weeks later.
Mr Ashurst said the council was also putting in place "a defined process of support" for winners "to make sure that they are looked after".
The committee heard that a new Australia Day Council chief executive had been appointed, but this was yet to be announced, while a recruitment process was underway for a new chair (to be appointed by the Albanese government).
Mark Fraser had served as chief executive for almost a decade while former chair John Foreman bowed out after two years.
- With Dana Daniel
