AI Transparency Statement

The Town of Gawler Council is committed to responsible and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance service delivery while protecting the rights, privacy, and interests of the community. AI will not replace accountable decision-making and will be used in a way that upholds fairness, equity, integrity, and public trust.

Our approach to AI is guided by strong governance and a commitment to ethical, responsible and transparent use aligned to Australia’s AI Ethics Principles | Department of Industry Science and Resources

Why we use AI

Town of Gawler uses AI to :

• Enhance internal efficiency and the quality-of-service delivery.
• Streamline administrative processes to reduce manual efforts, to enable focus on community centred services.
• Support our strategic commitment to creativity and delivering value to the community.
• Leverage data and insights to support informed, timely and effective decision making.
• Enable a more proactive approach to community engagement and service management.

Principles for Responsible AI Use

To maintain community trust, the Town of Gawler has implemented the following safeguards ensure Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used responsibly.

Privacy and Confidentiality

• The Council will not input personal, confidential, or sensitive information into publicly available or externally hosted AI tools.
• Information used within AI systems must be appropriately protected through measures such as anonymisation, access controls, and encryption.

Human Oversight and Accountability

• AI tools will assist and inform decision-making, not to replace human judgement, particularly where decisions may affect individuals’ rights, access to services, or community outcomes.
• Decisions with material or high-impact consequences will always be subject to human review and approval.
• Users of AI are responsible for validating outputs, applying professional judgement, and ensuring decisions remain accurate, fair, and appropriate.

Transparency

• The Council will be transparent about its use of AI in operations and services. The use of AI must be disclosed when used in the preparation of work-related outputs.
• Third parties engaged to prepare documents on behalf of Council shall disclose the use of AI where AI materially contributes to the content, analysis, recommendations, or conclusions presented.
• Information on AI use may be reported periodically to promote transparency and maintain public confidence.

Keeping your data safe

Maintaining community trust depends on protecting information and using AI responsibly. Council is   committed to ensuring:

• Council information is treated as a valuable organisational asset and managed securely, responsibly and respectfully.
• Only Council-approved and authorised AI tools are used to support official Council business.
• Council data , confidential information, and sensitive information are not entered into unauthorised or publicly available AI platforms.
• Personal and confidential information is handled in accordance with the Town of Gawler’s Protection of Information Policy

What AI will not be used for

To protect residents and maintain trust, AI will not be used:

• as a substitute for accountability and responsible decision-making;
• as the source of truth or for professional advice;
• to compromise privacy, security, or information integrity.
• to produce content that undermines trust, fairness, or transparency.
• outside approved purposes, tools, and governance frameworks.