Don’t lose ART to ARTificial Intelligence

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to questions about AI and copyright this week, saying “We want to protect copyright. We want to make sure that we protect the interests of creatives. I've made that very clear.” NAVA welcomes the Prime Minister’s commitment and calls on the Government to make these protections not just ‘clear’, but enforceable.

The Australian Government is not powerless when it comes to challenging Big Tech. In 2024, Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act. This legislation placed legal obligations on social media companies to take reasonable steps to prevent young people under the age of 16 from holding accounts. When announcing this legislation, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “This is all about supporting parents and protecting children.”

Today NAVA implores the Australian Government to demonstrate that same courageous leadership in order to protect Australian artists. NAVA’s 2025 survey of Australian visual artists found over 80% believed AI posed risks to their income, practice and moral rights. More than half supported enforceable regulation or legislation as a means of protection. 

One respondent asked: “Where are the laws protecting artists and the arts from having their work stolen? Why are billionaires allowed to make their riches from artists without paying the proper price and destroying the planet in the process?” 

“Artists should not have to take on multinational technology companies to protect their own work. They're already dealing with rising costs, low incomes and limited funding. The Australian Government needs to put the responsibility on AI companies to obtain permission and pay for the work they use,” said NAVA Executive Director Penelope Benton.

“Australia is home to the world's oldest continuing living cultures. That is something we should be enormously proud of, and it comes with a responsibility to uphold the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to maintain and protect their cultural heritage. First Nations artists have long challenged the unauthorised reproduction and sale of fake ‘Indigenous’ art, and AI is making the problem worse. The Government must protect Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) and hold AI companies accountable when they use cultural material without permission.” 

Artists have worked with artificial intelligence for decades, exploring its creative possibilities and challenging its limitations. They should be able to decide whether their work contributes to the development of AI systems, and be paid when it does. 

The Australian Government is considering whether to change copyright law as part of its response to AI. Australia’s existing Copyright Act protects artists’ rights over their work. These protections must not be weakened to give AI companies greater access to artists’ work without permission or payment. Any changes to the Act should strengthen artists’ rights and their ability to enforce them.

NAVA is asking artists, craft practitioners, designers and arts workers to write to their local MP about the importance of protecting copyright. Use NAVA's letter template to explain what is at stake for your work and ask your MP to support enforceable protections for artists.

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About NAVA
The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) is a Membership organisation that brings together the many voices of the contemporary arts sector to improve fundamental conditions of work and practice. We do this through advocacy, education and the Code of Practice. For further information on NAVA visit www.visualarts.net.au