Wednesday, 16 October 2024

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:16): (688) My question is for the Minister for Children. Minister, the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner, OVIC, found in its recent investigation that a child protection worker had used ChatGPT to draft a protection application report for the court. OVIC has subsequently issued a compliance notice requiring your department to ban the use of generative artificial intelligence by child protection staff by 24 September. Minister, can you confirm that OVIC’s direction has been complied with?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:17): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. I would at the outset also make the point that the department actually referred the matter to OVIC in the first instance. On such advice OVIC has looked at the matter, and the department is acting on the recommendations of OVIC.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:17): Thank you very much for that answer, Minister. It is an important issue – very concerning what happened. Can you guarantee therefore that all child protection documentation potentially drafted using ChatGPT or other AI tools has been fully identified, given what you have just explained to the house and that OVIC has highlighted difficulties in distinguishing AI-generated content from existing practice deficiencies within the work unit?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:18): I thank Ms Crozier for her supplementary question. It is a perfectly valid question, and I have asked the same question of the department myself. I have been assured on the advice of the department – and I am not a technical person; anyone who knows me well knows that using Facebook and email is the limit of my technological abilities – on the use of AI in a range of forms, from diary entry predictions through to ChatGPT; I have to keep reminding myself what it is actually called. But the advice that I have had is that the operations of child protection are very much taking the recommendations of OVIC seriously, and the advice that I have is that they are implementing them to the requirements of OVIC. Of course across the whole of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing there remains the use of automated AI, if you like, through things like diaries et cetera. But in terms of what I think is the genesis and the point of your question in relation to sensitive child protection information around particular individual cases, the advice of OVIC is absolutely being taken seriously and implemented. That is the advice that I have been given by the secretary.