OHS Alert-Inquiry examining impact of AI on work intensity and rights

Article from OHS Alert 11/04/2024

The possible risks associated with the "rapid uptake" of automated decision-making and machine learning techniques in workplaces, including increases in work intensity, will by examined by a parliamentary inquiry requested by Federal Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training's Inquiry into the Digital Transformation of Workplaces will seek to determine how to ensure the safe and responsible use of these technologies.

It will look at the risks and opportunities automated techniques present for "hiring, rostering, work intensity, job design, wage setting, monitoring, surveillance and job quality", the terms of reference show.

The committee will also inquire into the role of software and regulatory technology "in improving regulatory compliance in the workplace relations system", the impacts of machine learning techniques on labour rights, discrimination and "dignity at work", and the effects on vulnerable cohorts of workers, among other things.

"Australian workplaces are changing the way they operate," committee chair Labor MP Lisa Chesters said.

"The committee wants to understand what these changes mean for employees and employers, our workplaces and the way we regulate and govern our employment practices."

Workers, employers, software developers and providers, academics, employer groups and trade unions are encouraged to make submissions on the issues to the inquiry, by 21 June.