Australian Story
To cite this research
Gillespie, N., Lockey, S., Ward, T., Macdade, A., & Hassed, G. (2025). Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025. The University of Melbourne and KPMG. DOI 10.26188/28822919
The Australian Story
Our findings suggest that Australians see potential in AI and are adopting it, but need stronger safeguards, clearer guidance, and better understanding before they fully embrace it.
For a snapshot of the key insights for Australia, download the Australian Snapshot.
Australians are using AI and expect benefits from it, but have low trust and acceptance of AI
Half of Australians use AI regularly, and a majority (65%) expect a range of benefits from AI use in society, including reduced time spent on mundane tasks and improved efficiency. Just over half state they have realised such benefits (55%). However, 78% of Australians are also concerned about a range of negative outcomes from the use of AI systems, such as inaccurate outcomes, misinformation and disinformation, and loss of human interaction. On average, 37% have personally experienced or observed these negative outcomes.
Australia ranks lowest of all countries surveyed in the belief that benefits of AI outweigh the risks; with only 30% of Australian respondents believing this to be the case.
Australians’ ambivalence is also reflected in low trust: only 36% say they are willing to trust a range of AI applications. More Australians (54%) believe AI systems are technically competent and provide a helpful service, and fewer (41%) view them as safe and secure to use.
Most Australians are worried about AI (62%) and fewer are optimistic (45%) or excited (36%) about it. Only half (49%) accept the use of AI in society, which is one of the lowest levels of acceptance across the countries surveyed.
Australia is lagging in AI training and literacy
Australians also have amongst the lowest levels of AI training: just 24% report having undertaken AI-related training or education.
Over 60% report low knowledge of AI, and just under half believe they have the skills to use AI tools effectively. Australians also rank lowest globally in their interest in learning more about AI, with just 49% reporting moderate or high interest.
Calls for stronger regulation and governance
There is strong public support for AI regulation: 77% of Australians agree that regulation is necessary.
Australians expect international laws and regulation (76%), as well as oversight by the government and existing regulators (80%), and co-regulation with industry (77%). However, only 30% believe current laws, regulation and safeguards are adequate to make AI use safe, and 90% are unaware of any policies, regulation, or law related to AI in Australia.
83% of Australians say they would be more willing to trust AI systems when assurances are in place, such as adherence to international AI standards, responsible AI governance practices, and monitoring system accuracy.
Almost all Australians surveyed agree that laws are necessary to prevent the spread of AI-generated misinformation, and that news and social media companies should ensure people can detect when content is AI-generated and implement stronger fact-checking processes (88-91%).
AI use produces benefits at work, but also risks
49% of employees say they intentionally use AI on a regular basis in their work, and 65% believe AI has been integrated into their organization. This use is delivering benefits, with most employees reporting that AI integration in the workplace has increased efficiency, work quality, access to accurate information, and innovation (48-63%).
However, the use of AI at work is also creating complex risks for organizations. Almost half of employees who use AI (48%) admit to having done so in ways that contravene company policies, including uploading sensitive company information into free public AI tools like ChatGPT. Many have relied on AI output without evaluating accuracy (57%) and have made mistakes in their work due to AI (59%).
What makes these risks challenging to manage is that many employees also admit that they have hidden their use of AI at work (60%) and presented AI-generated work as their own (51%).
This complacent and inappropriate use may stem from a lack of clear organizational guidance and limited AI training. While generative AI tools are the most widely used tool by Australian employees (71%), only 30% say their organization has a policy guiding generative AI use, and 55% who work in organizations that have integrated AI state that training in responsible AI use has been provided. Pressure to use AI may also exacerbate these issues: 41% of employees are concerned they will be left behind if they don’t use AI.
