Australia: Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment

Smart glasses featuring AI, cameras, and augmented reality are now widely available in Australia through major retailers, raising critical questions about privacy, surveillance, and consent. As these devices become indistinguishable from ordinary eyewear, businesses and lawmakers grapple with balancing technological innovation against the risk of covert recording and serious privacy invasions.

The Australian Recording Industry Association has amended its chart eligibility guidelines to exclude songs predominantly created by generative AI, sparking debate about the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law. This decision mirrors broader legal challenges facing courts and regulators worldwide as they grapple with determining when AI-generated or AI-assisted works deserve copyright protection and recognition.

Australia's new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, which commenced in June 2025, is being tested against emerging AI-powered smart glasses technology that can record audio and video discreetly. As these devices become more sophisticated and less detectable, questions arise about whether current privacy laws adequately protect individuals from covert surveillance and data collection in both public and private settings.

More than fifty years after humans last travelled beyond low Earth orbit, NASA’s Artemis II mission has marked a defining moment in space exploration. Artemis II sent four astronauts on a ten-day journey around the Moon, testing spacecraft systems, communications and operational readiness for future lunar landings and, ultimately, missions to Mars.

Once the domain of government agencies, today the global space landscape is increasingly driven by private organisations pursuing a more entrepreneurial and commercial utilisation of space. We have come to depend on space-enabled technologies, such as satellite-based services, for everyday activities including navigation, telecommunications, weather forecasting, emergency management, banking, mining, agriculture and transportation.

On 28 May 2026, the Treasury published stage 1 of its long-awaited package of laws and consultations to designate, implement and operationalise the Scams Prevention Framework (SPF).

The Australian Recording Industry Association has amended its chart eligibility guidelines to exclude songs predominantly created by generative AI, sparking debate about the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law. This decision mirrors broader legal challenges facing courts and regulators worldwide as they grapple with determining when AI-generated or AI-assisted works deserve copyright protection and recognition.

Eminem's legal team has challenged an Australian beach lifestyle brand's trade mark application, arguing that 'Swim Shady' is confusingly similar to his iconic 'Slim Shady' persona. Australia's Registrar of Trade Marks has now ruled on whether the rapper's existing Australian registrations provide sufficient grounds to block the beach brand's application, with the decision turning on evidence of genuine use across merchandise categories.

The Act requires providers of those social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 years of age from obtaining or maintaining accounts with the platform.

The Australian Government has released the Exposure Draft Privacy Amendment (Personal Data Protection) Bill 2026, proposing the most significant overhaul of privacy law in years. These reforms would fundamentally change how Australian businesses handle personal information, introducing a new "fair and reasonable" test, stronger consent requirements, expanded definitions of personal information, and new rules for AI and emerging technologies.

Almost a year after the Government announced that it agreed or agreed in-principle with 106 of the 116 recommended reforms in the Attorney-General’s Department Privacy Act Review Report 2022...

The Full Federal Court of Australia has handed down its appeal decision in Aldi Foods Pty Limited v Hampden Holdings I.P. Pty Limited [2026] FCAFC 103 which provides guidance regarding the application of copyright infringement principles to the packaging of look-alike products.