COMMITTEES

Senator DEAN SMITH (Western Australia) (16:55): As Chair of the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, I rise to speak to yesterday's tabling of the committee's Scrutiny digest 11of 2026. The digest contains the committee's consideration of 10 bills introduced during the period between 17 August 2026 and 20 August 2026 and 103 agreed amendments.

The committee also concluded its consideration of nine previously introduced bills. I wish to draw the senators' attentions to the committee's concluding commentary concerning recent legislative provisions that adopt a novel approach to the automation of administrative decision-making. The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, now an act, amended the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act of 2013 to authorise the automation of specified administrative action by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

The act expressly allows for the automation of administrative decisions involving the exercise of discretion or evaluative judgement. The NDIA CEO is required to make a standard operating procedure instrument setting out the circumstances in which they would always exercise their discretion or judgement in a certain matter. The CEO must do so by reference to objective criteria to ensure that a computer program can make the decision in the same way.

The committee has increasingly drawn attention to provisions that authorise the making of administrative decisions by a computer program. It does so under Senate standing order 24(1)(a)(iii), which requires the committee to scrutinise whether provisions of bills would make rights, liberties or obligations unduly dependent on non-reviewable administrative decisions.

Under this scrutiny principle, the committee examines whether decisions proposed for automation involve complex or discretionary considerations or tests. The committee's clear expectation is for explanatory memoranda to explain why automation is necessary and appropriate for each decision, how ordinary administrative law requirements will be maintained and applicable legislative safeguards to constrain the use of these powers.

The committee sought initial advice from the minister about these matters in Scrutiny digest 7of 2026. In Scrutiny digest 9of 2026, the committee noted that these provisions represent a departure from the committee's usual position that discretionary administrative decisions are not appropriate for automation and requested a justification from the minister. The committee also requested information about the effectiveness of the standard operating procedure instruments as constraints on the automation discretionary decisions.

In this digest, the committee concludes that there appears to be a transition towards bills authorising the automation of discretionary decisions without sufficient safeguards or parliamentary oversight. The committee has noted that this approach may further contribute to fragmentation of automated decision-making provisions in Commonwealth legislation, as identified by the robodebt royal commission.

The committee has made similar concluding remarks in relation to the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026, which proposes a substantially similar automation framework and remains before the parliament. With these comments, I commend the committee's Scrutiny digest 11 of 2026 to the Senate. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.