Moved by Councillor Maxwell, seconded by
Councillor Miller -
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
the
recent presentation at the Local Government NSW Conference on the
opportunities, limitations and governance risks associated with the growing use
of artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, in local government;
(ii)
that
councils across Australia and internationally are deploying specific AI
applications to improve service delivery, including in:
·
customer service chatbots and request triage;
·
asset inspections using computer vision;
·
traffic and parking management;
·
planning and development assessment workflows;
·
community consultation and large-scale submission
analysis;
·
infrastructure maintenance prioritisation; and
·
disaster preparedness and response;
(iii)
that
the City of Sydney:
·
has operated a public-facing customer chatbot since
2020;
·
provides staff access to Microsoft Copilot as its
approved enterprise AI platform;
·
has adopted a Generative AI Procedure to guide safe
and appropriate staff use;
·
provides regular staff training on safe AI use; and
·
has an internal governance process for staff
proposing AI-driven projects;
(iv)
that
unions including the Australian Services Union have identified AI as a major
workplace transition, with members reporting:
·
increasing use of AI tools in daily work;
·
uneven access to structured training and support;
and
·
the importance of clear guardrails around privacy,
bias and job quality;
(v)
that AI
offers significant opportunities to improve productivity and service delivery,
but also presents material risks relating to privacy, bias, automated
decision-making, records management, workforce impacts and public trust if not
governed appropriately;
(B)
Council
further note that:
(i)
AI
should be used to support and augment staff, not remove human accountability
for decisions affecting residents, workers or businesses;
(ii)
automated
or semi-automated systems must retain clear human oversight, particularly where
rights, safety, access to services or regulatory outcomes are affected;
(iii)
the
City’s use of AI should align with its commitments to equity, accessibility,
transparency, privacy and public trust;
(iv)
where
AI delivers productivity gains, those gains should primarily be directed toward
improving public services and job quality, not solely headcount reduction;
(v)
AI
should, wherever practicable, be used to reduce low-value, repetitive tasks and
enhance the quality of work, rather than displacing workers; and
(vi)
meaningful
staff and union consultation should be a core principle where AI may affect
work design, workloads or job content; and
(C)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested, as part of the forthcoming review of the
Information and Technology Strategy within the Resourcing Strategy, to consider
and report to Council on whether the City should develop a dedicated Artificial
Intelligence Strategy or AI governance framework to maximise opportunities and
mitigate risks, and in doing so, have regard to:
(i)
the
principles in (B) above;
(ii)
the
City’s existing Generative AI Procedure and governance arrangements;
(iii)
emerging
best-practice approaches across local government and the public sector;
(iv)
the
City’s existing and potential future use of applied AI in areas such as
customer service, asset management, infrastructure, planning, consultation and
emergency response; and
(v)
workforce,
training, change-management, privacy, bias and transparency considerations.
Carried unanimously, as part of an in globo motion.
X113762