16 July 2026

TechnologyOne backs PM's AI framework and calls on governments to buy Australian AI, starting today

CEO Ed Chung says bureaucrats not buying Australian AI should have to explain “if not, why not?”

TechnologyOne, Australia's largest enterprise software company, has welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement of Australian Standards for AI and the establishment of the Office of AI within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and called on governments to back the framework with their own purchasing decisions, starting immediately.

TechnologyOne’s Chief Executive Officer, Ed Chung, said, “The Prime Minister's declaration that AI will have such a profound impact on Australia, and the lives of all Australians, that he must personally guide our national response is both welcome and important.

“Australia has so much to gain from AI, and this is the moment to bring together our national planning into the highest office in the land.

“The Prime Minister is right. Australia must act to own its destiny. That includes building home-grown, sovereign AI industries and capability that can compete with the world.

“We must start by recognising that Australia already has an active, competitive and sophisticated AI industry, one that is already at work inside Australian governments, councils and universities today.

“So, the first thing governments should do is lead the way with their own spending.

“As Assistant Minister Dr Andrew Charlton said earlier this year, everyone buying AI should ask whether there is an Australian option, and when the choice is close, lean Australian.

“The Prime Minister can send that message to his own bureaucrats immediately, by requiring them to explain ‘if not, why not?’ every time they choose not to buy Australian.

“Sovereign AI capability is not a future ambition for Australia. It exists today. TechnologyOne's agentic AI was designed and built entirely in Brisbane by our 700-plus Australian engineers, backed by $153.7 million a year in local R&D, 25 per cent of our revenue. All our IP is owned in Australia, our data stays on Australian soil under Australian law, and every dollar of profit is taxed here.

“Importantly, we are accountable to Australian laws and the Australian community. The Prime Minister says Australia should shape the future of AI rather than be shaped by it. We agree, and Australian companies are already building it.”

TechnologyOne's software powers the councils of more than 83% of Australians, over 60% of Australian higher education, and more than 200 government departments and agencies managing over $500 billion in public funds. The company was the first enterprise software company in the world certified to ISO 42001, the international standard for AI governance, and is IRAP-assessed to the PROTECTED level for government use.