AI breaks into Government website

0:00ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Good morning. Welcome to AM It's Thursday 24 September. I'm Rachel Mealy coming to you from the lands of the Turbul and Jaggera people in Brisbane. The Prime Minister has revealed an artificial intelligence agent hacked into an Australian Medicare data portal earlier this year. Anthony Albanese says the open AI agent accessed both public and private data during the breach in June. National affairs correspondent Jane Norman is in New York. She joined me a short time ago. Jane, what more can you tell us about this breach? Well Rachel, the Prime Minister held a SNAP press conference here in New York just a short time ago. Basically revealing that an open AI agent has hacked what's called the Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal. Now we understand this as a portal which basically is a national database. It contains information about spending.

1:02We don't believe that any personal information, Medicare information has been accessed at this stage. But according to the Prime Minister, this hack took place in June, so some months ago. The Australian signals directorate is currently taking a forensic investigation to basically figure out if any other government systems have been affected. We understand there are three. We don't know what they are, but three other systems may have been affected. And the Prime Minister has revealed that he's actually spoken to open AI's Sam Oldman, who's also here in New York, the United Nations General Assembly Mr. Albanese expressing what he says was his extreme concern, particularly that the company took way too long to report this hack to the Australian government. Evidence currently available is there is no broader compromise to the services Australia network. Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable. And today I spoke with the CEO of Open AI,

2:02Sam Oldman, to express Australia's extreme concern about this incident. And I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred. And Jane, this has come about just two days after Anthony Albanese signed that pact with 21 other nations calling for better international safeguards on artificial intelligence. And you would say that this hack underscores the serious concerns that leaders like Anthony Albanese have, but when it comes to AI, the safeguards around it, and whether effectively the governments are able to kind of rein in what is an increasingly powerful technology. And particularly the fact that Open AI took months to report this would only add to those concerns by leaders like Mr. Albanese. Now, he was central in getting what is sort of a coalition of middle powers together to sign a declaration calling for global guardrails to ensure that humans ultimately

3:04have control over AI. Now, of course, Donald Trump, the US president, very publicly slapped down that call on the United Nations General Assembly floor, some US won't be reigning in the technology. And Jane, before this story broke, today the Prime Minister met the Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky. He took us through that meeting. Well, that's right. We understand it was a pretty emotional meeting actually. So this was a bilateral meeting that had been planned, and they used that meeting to sign a decade-long security pact between the two countries. Now, this pact will go to increased military training between the two countries. Helping to rebuild Ukrainian military facilities, even exploring the possibility of joint manufacturing when it comes to munitions and missiles. So this is quite a step up in the diplomatic relationship. Australia has provided about $1.9 billion, where the resistance to Ukraine, a lot of that is basically defense military equipment, like bushmasters, armored vehicles. This is a step further than that.

4:05But what was notable about this bilateral meeting was the two men's relationship. They hugged at the start, Mr. Zelensky was in his sort of formal black suit. That's become pretty iconic over the past few years. And Mr. Albanese actually got choked up. He was fighting back tears when he was describing what he says was the extraordinary leadership Mr. Zelensky has shown. So that was really part of a kind of a round of diplomatic meetings that the Prime Minister has been holding while he in the United States. Jane Norman in New York and in relation to the news of the AI hack on a Medicare website, Green's communication spokesperson Senator Sarah Hansen Young says the news is extraordinary, but not unexpected. We only heard last week from the CEOs of OpenAI and a bunch of the other big AI companies that they are worried about what impact this technology could have on humanity. And when the designers and the makers of the machines are saying,

5:05got to be a bit worried here, I think we have to take that seriously and we have to take action. And I urge the Prime Minister to not waste this moment. Big AI needs regulation and it's not there yet. And we should put a pause, put a moratorium before we let them run loose here in Australia. Green's Senator Sarah Hansen Young, Well, a day after the US President Donald Trump threatened Iran at the UN, the Iranian President has delivered a defiant speech from the same podium, declaring that Iran is ready for dialogue but will not bow to force. America's editor John Lyons is in New York. He joined me earlier. Well Rachel Masood Pizestian has become what's believed to be the first wartime leader, the leader of a country at war with the United States, that has come into the United States into New York and the United Nations and address the General Assembly here. And essentially what he has said is he's rejected the tag by President Trump

6:06that Iran is a terrorist nation. And he said, look, Iran didn't start the war. It was started by the United States and Israel. And he says there were tax civilians. He held up pictures of some of the civilians he said had been killed, particularly in that the hitting of that school early on in February. And then he said that Iran will not bend the two the United States. But he did say Iran is open to any diplomatic solution. And in fact, at the moment behind the scenes, there are discussions going on here at the United Nations between Iranian and US officials. President Trump has confirmed that. Let's have a listen to what the Iranian President said. Trump must understand that the Iranian people will not be out of force and will make the aggressors regret their actions. This is what Trump and those who seek to bully others need to understand. We're ready for dialogue.

7:07But they should know that we won't accept the language of force. That's my Sud Pizestian and John, another wartime leader of Vladimir Zelensky has also addressed the UN and pointed out the global cost of the war in his country of Ukraine. Indeed. The Ukrainian leader appealed to member countries to either introduce or increase economic sanctions against Russia. And he warned that the war that Russia began in Ukraine could in fact spread to other parts of Europe. And he said that he hopes there is a solution to the war. There is an end to the war before the coming winter. The winters of course in Ukraine are particularly bitter. On the sidelines, he's also lobbying President Trump for more military support to coincide with the winter. And he's also asking President Trump to mediate at least an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia and agreement that they will not target each other's energy facilities.

8:12So the Ukrainians will not have to go through another winter with little support. And so the Ukrainian leader has come here and basically appealing for more assistance, military and economic, but at the same time saying we are prepared to sit down and do a deal. John Lyons there in New York. Young adults are staying at home longer and food insecurity is on the rise. But our relationships with our life partners are buoyant and improving as we age. These are some of the key findings of Australia's largest longitudinal study, the Hilda report, which has released its annual snapshot today. Oliver Gordon has been taking a look. The Hilda survey follows the same group of people year on year. It's a painter's statistical picture of how life in Australia is changing. The survey started in 2001 and we've been following roughly 17,000 people every year.

9:14The University of Melbourne's Dr. Inga Las is the project's deputy director and says this year's release was dominated by one factor. I think the big standout was how strongly the cost of living crisis is reflected in so many of the indicators that we've looked at. This fits very well with people's perception that life has become harder at least in economic terms. That's showing up in food insecurity numbers. In 2020 it was about less than 14% of people who reported food insecurity and now we have around 18% who report food insecurity. The data also shows young adults are staying at home longer. In 2001 the proportion of Australians aged 18 to 29 living with their parents was 39%. By 2024 half the people in that bracket hadn't fled the nest. That might not be worrying in the sense that some of them might still be studying and so they stay at home to save on costs while they finish their degrees.

10:17But the other perspective is that because rents have gone up a lot and young people have difficulties entering the housing market that they stay home even though they might be working but they just cannot afford to move out and become financially independent. It's not all negative news. Despite financial pressures, people's relationships satisfaction has remained relatively stable. On average people rate the quality of their relationship relatively highly. We have an index for that so people can rate it on a scale from 1 to 5 and we do see that the average is 4.3 which is quite high. The longitudinal nature of the study allows researchers to study relationship satisfaction over time and life stages revealing a U-curve pattern. It's very high in the beginning when couples move in together and have their honeymoon period. Then it declines over time until year 24 also in the relationship and for the couples that last this long it starts to improve again as their relationship goes on.

11:25The Hilda Reports release comes in the same week as the federal government into generational report. That report found Australians are getting much older and having fewer babies with both of those trends accelerating. Australian National University demographer Dr Liz Allen says it's critical large scale surveys such as these continue. We can find out through the repeated collection of particular variables where say for example living standards might be slipping, where we can better address investments in funding and supports and so on. So that things don't become out of hand. These undertakings make us a smart nation. She's called on governments at all levels to maintain their support for the projects as they become more complex to conduct. We have to be careful with these longitudinal surveys because with time they can grow less representative of the population.

12:25So we need to ensure that government is adequately putting in funding to ensure that the sample within these surveys reflect wider Australian population. A.N.U. demographer Liz Allen ending Oliver Gordon's report. First nations workers are earning 84 cents in the dollar when compared to the wider workforce. It's according to a landmark new report led by two major indigenous research groups. The study found the pay gap widened even further when it came to women. Here's political reporter Nicole Asher. Large, persistent and economy wide. That's how the indigenous pay gap has been characterized by researchers. It wasn't a surprise at all. In fact, we did the research to quantify what we suspected. Professor Nareen Young from the University of Technology Sydney's Center for Indigenous People and Work says, despite that, the studies findings were worse than anticipated.

13:27We've been told for years that this is about education, about experience, about the sorts of jobs and mob end up in. And we tested every one of those explanations. Job type analysis together account for less than 30% of the gap. So what is left is structural racism in the way work is valued and paid in this country. The report titled Towards Indigenous Pay Parity was published by UTS and Indigenous Business Australia and looked at average wages across more than 200 jobs. It found First Nations workers earned 16% less per hour than the average Australian worker. Across a year, that gap increased to 18%. Dr. Sardarth Shahrodkar is Indigenous Business Australia's chief economist. It's almost like for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person, they might be working for 12 months of the year but only get paid for 10. So that's really quite sizable. And it's also roughly equivalent to the superannuation contribution.

14:31Some of the biggest wage gaps were found in professional roles in the finance and insurance and technology spaces. If you've got a post grade qualification and your First Nations, you've got a higher employment rate than non-Indigenous people. But the average annual income for Indigenous people with those qualifications is generally lower. Dr. Christian Eva from Melbourne University's Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership says First Nations people remain underrepresented at senior levels of major companies. For example, on the boards of ASX100 companies and that's reflective of the institutional dynamics that contribute to workplace discrimination or to workplaces that still don't recognise the value and the strength of Indigenous employees. When it comes to women, Australia's gender pay gap sits at about 10% for average hourly income. For Indigenous women, it's worse, blowing out to 21%. It means compared to Australian men, First Nations women earn on average $11 less every hour, Professor Young.

15:33Nobody would accept that in a contract and no one should have to accept this gap. So we want to put out there in the employment community of which were a part and the broader community that we need wage reform. The report made several recommendations, including around collecting Indigenous employment data and putting appropriate value on cultural work. Nicole Asher, years after landmark respect at work reforms were introduced to encourage more victims of workplace sexual harassment to come forward, the system responsible for handling many of those complains is facing record demand. New figures show almost half of complainants are waiting more than a year for their cases to move forward. Here's National Work Reporter, Bronwyn Herbert. At 19, Heather thought she had secured her dream career when she got an electrical apprenticeship in regional New South Wales in 2024.

16:33I was really thinking about the future and having my own business maybe or going to the mines and really trying to set myself up for to buy a house. But that all changed when she says she was sexually harassed by her boss, who she alleges made unwirkemmed advances. At the time, I guess I was just naive, but I didn't. There were no alarm bells coming off. I thought we were just like a close boss and apprentice. He was trying to help me. Melissa Unwin is Heather's mum. Like I trusted this guy with my daughter, like I did not think that this was going to happen. Trauma tyres, the teenager quit the apprenticeship the next day. Supported by the electrical trades union, Heather lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission. It took 14 months for her complaint to be formally accepted for investigation and she was only recently assigned a case manager. It's been over a year since we lodged it and there hasn't been any traction since then.

17:37The commission is yet to determine Heather's claims and her allegations are denied by the business owner. Heather has since found a new apprenticeship operating heavy machinery. New figures obtained by the ABC show the Human Rights Commission received a record 759 complaints under the Sex Discrimination Act last financial year. That's up 21% on the previous year and 51% from five years ago. Of the 460 sexual harassment complaints received 95% related to employment. Dominic Allen is a discrimination law professor at Monash University. She says recent legal reforms may have encouraged more workers to come forward. Also in the past, if women have gone to court and it's mainly women bringing these complaints, if they've gone to court and lost, they risked having to pay the employer's cost if they lost, they don't have that risk anymore. Well some state-based anti-discrimination bodies report much shorter wait times. The Human Rights Commission says rising complaint numbers continue to outpace its capacity.

18:42And the additional ongoing funding is needed to reduce delays and improve access to justice. A spokesperson for the Attorney General said the federal government has invested almost 50 million dollars in additional funding for the commission since 2022. And that an upcoming review of the respected work reforms will examine how the system is operating. Electrical Trade Union State Secretary Alan Hicks says stronger legal protections only work if the system has the resources to enforce them. But you can have the best laws in the world. And if you don't resource the regulatory bodies at a supposed look after it, understaff them and not provide an appropriate pathway for people to make complaints, then the laws are meaningless. The Heather she wants closure and is worried delays will discourage others from coming forward. More women should be in the field, but these situations and this lack of action deters people. Trade's woman Heather Unwin ending that report by Bronwyn Herbert.

19:44And that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Rachel Mealy. Hi, I'm Melissa Clark, host of the ABC News Daily Podcast. The US President has banned three media outlets from the White House, prompting a broader media boycott. Donald Trump isn't backing down, launching his own Trump TV. Who wins and who loses from Donald Trump's war with the press? Look for ABC News Daily podcast on ABC Listen.