The Federal Government must urgently introduce consistent safeguards for automated decision-making, with aged care showing the risks of allowing technology to outpace protections, Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia says.
COTA Chief Executive, Patricia Sparrow, said the private members bill introduced by Independent MP Kate Chaney today shows what practical safeguards look like in legislation and should provide further momentum for the government to deliver its promised whole-of-government framework.
“Government should not be using automated systems to make important decisions about people today and promising to work out the rules tomorrow,” Ms Sparrow said.
“Automated decision-making is already being used across government. The safeguards need to keep pace.
“People need to know when an automated system has been used to make a decision about them, understand why, and have access to a real person with authority to review and change it if required.”
Ms Sparrow said aged care shows exactly why protections are needed from the start.
“Right now, an algorithm decides how much Support at Home funding an older person gets. If an assessor sits across from someone and thinks the classification is wrong, they simply cannot change it. Government has now recognised the need for human intervention and the sector is awaiting the outcome of the review undertaken to put this critical adjustment and oversight into place.
“Older people have been carrying the risk of not having proper oversight since the systems introduction nearly a year ago. The review outcomes must remove the risk and ensure that assessments deliver the right level of care to individuals while also rebuilding trust in the assessment process.
The bill introduced today would require people are notified when a computer makes a decision about them, and it would ensure a real person can change that decision. All decisions – human or computer – would have access to the same formal appeal processes. It would also establish a public register of the automated systems government uses.
Ms Sparrow said that more was needed, “the bill’s risk assessment should explicitly require departments to consider the impact on different groups of people before a system is introduced, especially those who are marginalised.”
“Safeguards must take into account and protect those who are most vulnerable and are often least able to challenge a wrong automated decision,” said Ms Sparrow.
Media contact: Tamara Kotoyan, 0430 291 890 or Alana Mew, 0419 929 722