Debate down under – Australasia report

The sustainability of news

The forum’s first business session addressed the sustainability of public interest journalism, defined as accurate, reliable news that underpins democratic debate, accountability and informed decision-making. Speakers outlined multiple pressures: legal constraints and suppression orders, AI-enabled reuse of content without attribution or payment and, most critically, an economic collapse driven by advertising revenue shifting to major digital platforms.

Research across many jurisdictions suggests that market forces alone will not sustain public interest news. Governments are experimenting widely, but policies are often fragmented or incomplete. The discussion highlighted policy tools, such as bargaining frameworks and levy-style ‘charge and offset’ models, alongside the need for mechanisms that ensure any collected funds reach news providers quickly and transparently.

A recurring theme was that funding is insufficient if trusted news is hard to find on the platforms people use, especially in diverse, multilingual communities. Speakers stressed that safeguarding journalism is not about directing content but about protecting the conditions for independent reporting and civic cohesion.

The creative economy and media development

It was noted at the outset that the creative industries sector accounts for 3 to 4 per cent of global GDP – around $2 trillion – and is projected to more than double in value over the next decade. Creative investment, it was argued, is inherently regional: film and television production disperses spending far beyond capital cities, supporting local employment, hospitality, logistics and small businesses across entire countries. It also generates significant spillover effects, notably in tourism and cultural influence.

A key theme was the power of local authenticity. The most globally successful non-English language content, it was argued, succeeded not because it was engineered to travel, but because it was deeply rooted in local storytelling and talent. Investment in skills development across production, visual effects and technical roles was presented as central to this model.

The Pacific context

Regulators from Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea outlined the realities of small, developing media markets. In Vanuatu, media regulation is relatively new, with limited licensing, evolving codes of practice and ongoing work towards a digital terrestrial television roadmap. Radio remains critical, particularly for remote islands and during natural disasters, yet coverage gaps persist. Experiences during cyclones and the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated how fragile communications infrastructure and misinformation can compound national crises.

In Papua New Guinea, media was characterised as both an independent institution and a development partner. Policymakers face a delicate balance: supporting media capacity, ethics and journalist safety without compromising independence. Questions remain about whether stronger legal frameworks or self-regulatory models are preferable. In both countries, digital literacy emerged as a pressing challenge.

The afternoon session turned to the design of comprehensive digital platform regulation, focusing on the case for ex ante competition rules and their interaction with traditional ex post enforcement.

A senior competition official outlined the rationale behind proposals for an ex ante digital platform code. Building on several years of market inquiries, the authority had observed a pattern across digital services: rapid innovation and strong consumer uptake alongside enduring market power in certain ecosystems. Concerns included self-preferencing, interoperability restrictions and the leveraging of dominance across adjacent services. An ex ante regime, it was argued, could complement existing law by setting clearer upfront rules for designated platforms and services, particularly where structural power persists.

Industry representatives responded with strong caution. Drawing on experience under the EU’s DMA, they described significant compliance burdens, including extensive engineering resources devoted to redesigning products and user flows. They argued that rigid prohibitions, particularly around self-preferencing, interoperability and data use, can interfere with product integration and degrade the user experience. Some questioned whether ex ante regimes are truly faster or more efficient than ex post enforcement, noting ongoing litigation and appeals under existing frameworks.

Panellists also highlighted implementation challenges. Effective ex ante regulation requires deep technical understanding, sustained regulatory dialogue and significant institutional resources.

Gambling

The conference moved to a regulatory spotlight on the challenge of disrupting illegal online gambling services  and heard from a senior representative of the Australian national communications regulator..

While states and territories license and supervise lawful operators, the Australian federal regulator enforces the Interactive Gambling Act, which prohibits certain forms of online gambling outright, most notably online casino-style games. By contrast, licensed online gambling in racing and sport is permitted under strict regulatory conditions.

Licensed providers are subject to extensive obligations, including consumer protection, responsible gambling requirements, taxation and regulatory oversight. Illegal offshore operators are subject to none of these safeguards and can offer higher odds and high-risk products such as in-play betting, credit betting and unlimited wagers.

Traditional enforcement tools are often ineffective, particularly where operators are offshore. In response, the regulator has adopted a disruption-based strategy. Once an illegal site is identified, internet service providers are notified and asked to block access. Since 2019, nearly 1,500 illegal sites have been blocked, and over 200 have withdrawn from the Australian market. Repeated blocking reduces traffic over time and increases consumer awareness through warning notices.

Online protection

The discussion opened against the backdrop of Australia’s recently implemented social media minimum age framework. The regime requires designated platforms to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent under-16s from holding accounts, with regulators deliberately framing the measure as a ‘delay’ rather than a ban, aimed at building resilience and digital literacy during formative years.

Singapore’s regulator described a phased, targeted approach rather than a single omnibus online safety statute. Singapore has introduced binding codes for social media services and app stores, including age assurance requirements for users under 18. The regulator emphasised outcome-based rules, technical testing of compliance and a forthcoming Online Safety Commission to provide direct relief to victims of online harms.

The UK Online Safety Act was described as an attempt to embed safety-by-design obligations. A New Zealand representative described dispute resolution mechanisms, trusted flagger arrangements and curriculum-aligned digital literacy programmes.

Privacy

This panel explored the tension between privacy protection and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, in the context of Australia’s ongoing Privacy Act reform process. A first tranche of privacy reforms has passed Parliament, with further reforms pending. Recent changes include a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, stronger enforcement powers for the regulator and additional safeguards for automated decision-making and children’s privacy.

A speaker from the Productivity Commission argued that Australia’s current notice-and-consent model is failing consumers. Lengthy privacy policies and tick-box consent mechanisms do not generate meaningful understanding or trust. In an AI environment, where re-identification is increasingly feasible and data is widely available, he suggested that regulation should shift away from prescriptive rules toward an outcomes-based model centred on a ‘fair and reasonable in the circumstances’ obligation.

Digital advertising was cited as a significant contributor to the economy, underlining the importance of workable regulation. Speakers stressed that consumer and business interests are not inherently opposed: consumers want affordable services, personalisation and protection from harm; businesses depend on trust. Consent, they argued, is often misunderstood and overused. Even under regimes such as the EU’s GDPR, consent is only one lawful basis for processing, yet ‘consent fatigue’ persists.

Copyright and AI

The final session of day one focused on whether Australia’s legal framework should be amended to accommodate AI training. Australian creators have expressed anxiety about economic displacement, cultural appropriation and loss of control over their work.

Under the Australian legal framework, copyright grants exclusive rights, including reproduction, subject to specific statutory exceptions such as fair dealing. Unlike the United States, Japan or Singapore, Australia has no broad exception clearly permitting AI training. The policy question is whether Australia should introduce a new exception, rely on licensing or adopt a statutory or compulsory licensing model.

The Productivity Commission has recommended a ‘wait and see’ approach. Large language model training was unlikely to occur in Australia for structural reasons such as infrastructure and energy costs. Meanwhile, licensing markets were already developing, particularly for high-value content. Given the risks of irreversible reform amid uncertainty, the Commission’s view is that there is public policy value in delay.

A policy adviser noted that AI is already widely used in film and screen production for technical enhancement, special effects and content discovery. She noted that compulsory licensing attracts little support among stakeholders, and that technological solutions, such as standardised licensing, may offer more flexible paths forward.

Keynote – trust in democratic societies

The second day of the forum began with a keynote address in which the speaker focused on the fragility of trust in democratic societies amid digital disruption, misinformation and declining standards of public discourse.

Trust, he said depends on truth and transparency. In a media environment saturated with misinformation, democracies face an unprecedented challenge. Ignoring misinformation in the hope that it would fade is a mistake. In a networked environment, falsehoods must be rebutted quickly and directly.

He warned of a broader erosion of civility. While technology did not invent incivility, it has industrialised and amplified it. Women in public life, he noted, bear disproportionate abuse, with intimidation discouraging participation.

He suggested that platforms could introduce ‘friction’, such as prompts encouraging users to reconsider abusive language. Parliamentary and courtroom standards demonstrate that robust debate can coexist with expectations of civility. The issue, he argued, is about responsibility rather than censorship.

Universal coverage

The session began with a note that, as technologies evolve – from copper to fibre, from mobile generations to low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites – regulators face new questions about how to deliver ubiquitous, affordable and sustainable connectivity.

Most Australians can now access high-speed services, including in regional areas, with further upgrades planned through partnerships with LEO providers. It was important to listen to customer needs on issues such as speed, reliability and affordability and to collaborate across the sector to manage complex upgrades.

One speaker argued that public funding for regional coverage had too often reinforced the dominance of a single network rather than fostering competition. Preserving technology choice, particularly for lower-income and mobile customers, was essential to narrowing the digital divide. Direct-to-device satellite services could reset the policy debate, but policies must avoid creating captive demand for a single provider.

Infrastructure and AI

This panel examined what ‘infrastructure in an AI-centric world’ truly entails, moving beyond a narrow focus on data centres to consider the full system required to support AI at scale.

Much of Australia’s compute still sits in legacy server rooms rather than purpose-built facilities and migrating to modern centres can significantly improve energy efficiency. Demand growth is being driven not by speculation but by cloud migration, expanding digital services and AI workloads, particularly energy-intensive AI inferencing. As a result, energy, grid access and digital infrastructure now operate as an integrated system.

Fragmented planning, approvals and regulatory processes across different levels of government were identified as constraints, creating uncertainty and slowing investment. While some cautioned against over-centralising approvals, there was broad agreement that greater policy coherence is essential to attract mobile global capital.

It was noted that Australia has advantages such as geopolitical stability, renewable energy potential, technical skills and proximity to Asia-Pacific markets.

As AI embeds across sectors, questions of where data is stored, processed and governed become strategic. Sovereign or regionally hosted infrastructure is not only a compliance issue but an economic and diplomatic opportunity, particularly in partnerships with Pacific nations.

Infrastructure and investment in the Pacific Islands

It was noted that, in a region highly exposed to natural disasters and rising cyber risks, communications networks underpin emergency coordination, public information, health systems, banking, and government continuity. When networks fail, response slows and recovery becomes more costly. Recent events, including volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and cyclones, have underscored how digital fragility compounds physical disaster impacts.

Speakers from Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga each described resilience as a development and security imperative. In Samoa there is a  need to upgrade national telecoms and power infrastructure, improve affordability of satellite services for rural communities, strengthen backup options, such as satellite and submarine cables,  and invest in community-level capacity and early warning systems.

Resilience anchors Vanuatu’s economic strategy. Priorities include expanding connectivity to outer islands, building cloud-ready government systems, strengthening cybersecurity, and investing in ‘smart island’ initiatives to maintain service continuity during crises.

The experience in Tonga of the cutting of a cable and subsequent digital isolation has led to serious reflection. With a second cable nearing completion, the country is exploring further route diversity, modernising its aging copper access network with fibre, establishing a national data centre and creating an independent regulator.

Cyber resilience

The discussion opened with an assessment that cyber risk is intensifying, driven by state and criminal actors, growing system complexity and the rising economic and societal consequences of failure. Incidents once seen as isolated technical problems now have systemic effects, disrupting supply chains, public services and even national economies.

Across jurisdictions, a significant proportion of network assets remain ageing or unsupported, creating persistent vulnerabilities. Many breaches exploit flaws for which patches already exist. The challenge is not only awareness but incentives: organisations often prioritise new capability over refreshing legacy infrastructure.

Australia’s Security of Critical Infrastructure framework and Cyber Security Strategy were discussed in terms of evolving efforts to lift baseline standards and encourage cross-sector collaboration. Panellists noted progress in threat intelligence sharing and operational cooperation but also highlighted gaps in executive-level engagement and supply-chain visibility.

Phone scams

Scams, said the opening speaker of the session, are a systemic digital threat that undermines trust in telecommunications, financial services and online platforms. Australia’s new Scams Prevention Framework, represents a shift towards coordinated, cross-sector accountability.

The national communications regulator has adopted a multi-layered approach: enforcing anti-scam and spam rules, monitoring industry codes, tackling mobile number porting fraud and launching a national SMS Sender ID Register to combat impersonation scams.

New Zealand operates a more aggressive model, using civil spam legislation and search warrant powers to disrupt organised criminal networks directly. A cross-sector intelligence-sharing model, including weekly coordination with telcos and banks, real-time chat groups and close police engagement, has significantly reduced scam volumes.

Industry representatives highlighted large-scale network interventions, including blocking millions of scam calls and messages monthly, deploying AI-based detection tools and strengthening cross-sector data sharing. Platforms use a ‘prevent-detect-respond’ model, combining product design, AI-driven user alerts, advertiser verification and international intelligence exchanges, to remove malicious infrastructure at scale.

This reported was drafted using ChatGPT.