The National AI Plan: A Good Start, But More Detail and Private Sector Collaboration Needed for Full Impact

The National AI Plan: A Good Start, But More Detail and Private Sector Collaboration Needed for Full Impact

Artificial Intelligence has long been a buzzword, but in the wake of the Australian Government’s National AI Plan, it is clear that AI is no longer just a theoretical concept. It is now a strategic priority that must be embedded across Australian businesses, from the boardroom to the front line.

While the National AI Plan sets a commendable objective of positioning Australia as a leader in AI innovation, there are still significant gaps that must be addressed for it to truly grow the Australian economy. At Praxio AI, we believe the plan’s core pillars capturing opportunities, spreading benefits, and keeping Australians safe are on the right track, but the plan must go further in its detail and include deeper consultation with the private sector to ensure that the benefits of AI adoption are widespread, practical, and sustainable.

AI Is No Longer Just a Buzzword. It Is Now a Boardroom Agenda Item

One of the strongest points of the plan is its recognition that AI is a critical driver for economic growth and should not be relegated to an IT department initiative. The plan makes clear that AI must become a strategic priority for boards and executive leadership, with a top down approach ensuring that AI adoption permeates across the entire organisation. This shift from pilot projects to enterprise wide initiatives is essential if we are to realise the productivity and efficiency gains that AI promises.

As business leaders, we have a responsibility to not only invest in the technology itself but also in the people who will make AI a core part of our business models. This means significant investment in training and skills development to ensure that our teams are ready for the opportunities that AI brings. However, while the National AI Plan acknowledges these points, it lacks sufficient detail on how businesses can integrate AI across their entire workforce, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises, which are the backbone of Australia’s economy.

AI Product Development and Localised Models Are Key to Australia’s Future

One area where the plan could be strengthened is by more clearly recognising that AI development is just as important as the enabling infrastructure. Building data centres and digital infrastructure is important, but it is only part of the equation. Australia also needs a stronger and more explicit focus on developing localised AI products, especially reasoning models and multi agent tools tailored to Australian industries, regulations, and workflows.

Australia has a strong competitive advantage in sectors such as education, finance, and professional services, sectors that often require AI models to understand and comply with local rules and practice. However, the National AI Plan does not provide sufficient support or investment signals to drive that localised AI development across these industries. This is where Praxio AI Tax Assistant comes in. Built specifically for the Australian market, Praxio AI – Tax Assistant was developed to address the nuances of Australian tax law, ATO guidance, and the unique workflow needs of tax professionals.

The National AI Plan should follow this model by supporting localised AI development across more sectors. There is a pressing need to develop industry specific tools that are not just powerful but also compliant with local regulations. By doing so, we will ensure that Australian businesses remain competitive and can keep critical data and AI systems local, which is essential for security and privacy.

Keeping Australians Safe Needs Practical Guidance and Stronger Enablement

The plan rightly includes a pillar focused on keeping Australians safe, but this will only work if businesses are given practical guidance that can be implemented consistently. Organisations need clearer expectations around policies and guardrails, including human in the loop review, audit trails, cybersecurity, data handling standards, and accountability for outcomes.

In building Praxio AI - Tax Assistant, we had regard to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources – Australia’s AI Ethics Principles, including fairness, privacy and security, reliability and safety, transparency, contestability, and accountability. This kind of principles based guidance is useful, but it still needs to be translated into practical minimum controls that businesses can adopt without having to invent everything from scratch.

One way to accelerate safe, practical adoption would be an AI incubator or accelerator focused on regulated and high trust industries. This could help Australian companies build, test, and deploy industry tuned AI tools with access to trusted datasets, clear governance patterns, and independent safety evaluation. It would also support the plan’s objective of promoting responsible practices while building local capability.

The Risk of Becoming a Hosting Location

The National AI Plan sets ambitious goals for Australia to become a regional AI hub. However, if the focus remains too heavily on data centres and infrastructure without an equivalent emphasis on AI development and localised products, Australia risks becoming a hosting location for AI models. This is a missed opportunity.

We have already experienced energy volatility over the past five years. If major data centre investment is pursued without a clear plan for how energy supply, renewables, storage, and grid investment will support it, Australians could face higher energy costs with limited everyday benefit. The plan would be stronger if it addressed these risks more directly, including how the economic benefits flow back to Australians.

A Broader Focus Needed Across the Economy

While the National AI Plan places significant focus on healthcare, agriculture, resources, and advanced manufacturing, there are many other industries that should be more visible within the National AI Plan. Sectors such as finance, education, and professional services including accounting and legal are vital to Australia’s economy and can benefit enormously from localised, compliant AI tools. These sectors also represent areas where Australia can build an edge, provided we invest in capability and product development, not only infrastructure.

For example, in accounting, AI can streamline tax research, strengthen compliance, and improve advisory workflows. But to fully realise these benefits, AI must be tuned to Australian requirements and deployed with strong confidentiality and governance controls. This is precisely the problem Praxio AI - Tax Assistant was built to address.

Strengthening the Workforce: Aligning AI Capability with Industry Needs

Workforce development is central to spreading the benefits of AI, but the plan needs to be more detailed in how it builds an AI ready talent pipeline. This requires earlier and broader investment across students, undergraduates, vocational education, and early career pathways, not only mid career upskilling.

The AI Adopt Program for SMEs is a start, but it is not enough. At $17 million, it represents only a small portion of the broader funding cited in the plan, and it does not reflect the economic importance of SMEs as the backbone of the Australian economy. If we are serious about lifting national productivity, more must be invested in SME enablement, practical toolkits, training, and trusted support channels that help SMEs adopt AI safely and effectively.

Conclusion: A Good Start, But More Detail and Collaboration Needed

The National AI Plan is an important step in the right direction. It reinforces that AI is now a core agenda item for boards and executives and it sets a clear structure through its three pillars. However, to deliver whole of economy outcomes, the plan needs deeper practical detail and stronger engagement with the private sector.

Australia’s success will depend on balancing infrastructure with AI development capability, building localised products for a broader range of industries, supporting SMEs at the scale required, and translating safety principles into practical guidance that businesses can implement.

At Praxio AI, we see the value of industry specific AI built for Australian workflows, grounded in credible sources, and designed with human review in mind. We believe Australia can lead in trusted and practical AI adoption, but we need the plan to go further in enabling the ecosystem that makes that possible.

About the Author

William Young FCPA GAICD is an advisor of Praxio AI, a purpose built AI platform designed for Australian tax and accounting professionals. He is a recognised speaker and educator on practical AI adoption in public practice, with a focus on responsible implementation, governance, and maintaining professional judgement through human oversight. William works at the intersection of technology, regulation, and real world workflows, and regularly contributes insights on how real estate and accounting sectors can lift productivity while keeping Australians safe through clear standards, trusted data, and fit for purpose controls.