Welcome to Neural Notes, a weekly column looking at how AI is impacting Australia. In this issue: Australia’s new AI plan highlights several issues for small and medium-sized businesses.
The Albanon Government’s first national AI plan is full of language that says “all Australians” will share in the benefits of AI and positions the country as an “AI-enabled economy.”
For small businesses, which the plan calls “the backbone of the Australian economy,” the question is whether the vision translates into anything more than recycling programs and careful signaling.
The 37-page report is structured around three objectives: seize the opportunity, spread the benefits and keep Australians safe.
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It has also been positioned as a “key pillar of government”, as Innovation Minister Tim Ayers has previously stated. The future of Made in Australia In other words, connect AI to long-term industrial and sovereign capabilities rather than narrow technology fields.
But when you dig into the details of small businesses, most of what is on offer is either already in place or remains at the level of guidelines and principles rather than new money and tools.
This plan certainly emphasizes the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises. “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Australia’s economy, supporting innovation, creating jobs and contributing significantly to national productivity,” the report says, arguing that supporting adoption is “vital” to competitiveness.
However, the baseline is uneven. Based on research from the National AI Center (NAIC) and Quadrant 5, the plan states that “more than a third” of small businesses have implemented AI, and only 29% of local organizations are using AI, compared to 40% in metropolitan areas.
Additionally, 26% of local businesses report that they are “not aware of the AI opportunity.” This is further exacerbated by the digital inclusion gap, with the plan stating that “around 40 per cent of Indigenous peoples and one in five Australians remain digitally excluded”.
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This is a significant, if not surprising, gap.
The high-tech industry widely welcomes an opportunity-first approach. Outgoing Technology Council of Australia (TCA) CEO Damien Casabhi said the plan “makes clear the government’s focus is on finding the right balance of regulation that supports safe use without slowing innovation”.
He noted that commercialization is a persistent weakness of the nation and welcomed the plan’s investment in joint research centres.
He also listed practical priorities he would like to see progress on, some of which he had previously seen from Mr. Kasabhi. These include the AI Skills Improvement Partnership, changes to RG97 to allow for “increased pension investment in start-ups”, acceleration of domestic data center principles, “clarification of copyright settings” and “priority access to the National Recovery Fund for early stage Australian AI companies”.
What kind of support is actually available for small and medium-sized businesses?
Most of the small business activities in the plan will integrate existing ones.
The National AI Center (NAIC) is described as “the government’s lead agency supporting industry to unlock the economic benefits of AI.”
The $17 million AI Adoption Program, which provides consulting, training, and tools to help small and medium-sized businesses develop and use AI, is under the NAIC’s jurisdiction.
The Digital Solutions program, which provides tailored digital implementation advice for small and medium-sized businesses, includes “AI capabilities to improve business productivity” and is positioned as part of that ecosystem.
We are also working with Infoxchange to develop AI resources for nonprofit and Indigenous initiatives, including a digital support hub and a network of digital mentors.
All of this is important, but it’s not new.
Money and details: Adjustments are more important than new money.
For time-poor business owners, centralizing support isn’t the same as expanding support. Although the plan provides small businesses with a clear map of the program, it does not meaningfully increase practical assistance.
A significant part of the focus of this plan is on investments that have already been made. The report highlights “more than $460 million in existing funding already available or being committed to AI and related initiatives.”
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This includes “more than $362 million in targeted grants,” $47 million for the Next Generation Alumni Program, $39.9 million to strengthen the AI ecosystem through the NAIC, and $17 million for AI Adoption Programs.
It also highlighted “an additional $1 billion in critical technologies in the national interest, such as AI, under the National Recovery Fund,” noting that companies have registered $950 million in AI-related activities under R&D tax incentives over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 income years.
The only new initiative in this plan that clearly costs money is the AI Safety Institute. The investment will be $29.9 million and the company is scheduled to be established in 2026.
According to the plan, the institute will “monitor, test, and share information about emerging AI capabilities, risks, and harms” and help regulators help companies “adhere to legal standards of fairness and transparency.”
The $29.9 million figure is modest considering the plan itself, which includes a private data center pipeline that “could grow up to $100 billion or more.”
It also follows a federal budget that does not include spending on new AI capabilities or infrastructure. As a result, the plan functions more as a coordinating document than a funding package.
Workers, unions and small businesses are under pressure
The AI plan is clear about the role of workers and trade unions. Its preamble states: “Success will be measured by how widely the benefits of AI are shared, how inequalities are reduced, how workers and the workforce are supported, and how workplace rights are protected.”
It added: “Workers and trade unions must have a strong say in how AI is deployed across the workplace”, pledging governments to ensure implementation is “transparent, safe and responsibly managed”.
It also acknowledges increased risks in the workplace, including AI-enabled surveillance, algorithmic bias in recruitment and rostering systems, reduced worker autonomy, and safety issues when algorithmic tools shape daily work.
The report states that AI technology will be considered under Australia’s Occupational Health and Safety and Workplace Relations Settings, and emphasizes that employers should consult with workers and trade unions when implementing AI systems that change workflows or impact jobs.
In addition to this, the plan details skills and workforce measures across the National Skills Agreement, the Future Skills Organisation’s AI programme, the Jobs and Skills Councils’ work on AI-related occupations, TAFE-led micro-credentials, the Digital Knowledge Exchange and the Next Generation Graduate Programme.
We predict that AI will reshape task profiles over time, requiring continuous retraining, and we expect industry and trade union partnerships to play a key role.
All of this is welcome, but it doesn’t alleviate the immediate burden for small businesses of selecting tools, integrating, consulting employees, retraining teams, and managing compliance risks. Often there is no in-house technical capacity.
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Although it is a national plan, small and medium-sized enterprises still need practical support.
“The National AI Plan will ensure technology works for Australians, not the other way around,” Minister Ayers said in a statement. “We are focused on capturing the economic opportunities of AI, sharing its benefits widely, and keeping Australians safe as technology evolves.”
Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Charlton described it as a “plan that puts Australians first and promotes equity and opportunity”.
However, promotion and practicality are not the same.
For small businesses, more concrete support is needed to raise the low rates reported by the government itself.
How are voluntary disclosures, self-regulation, existing programs and the $29.9 million Safety Institute expected to make a difference when the use of AI by small and medium-sized businesses remains below 40% across Australia?
What is even less clear is how the current considerations will translate into affordable, practical support to help small and medium-sized enterprises enhance their businesses with AI.
After all, the business and technology sectors, as well as governments, continue to extend the magic of AI to time-poor executives.
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t translate into dollars or real usage.
