TLDR
A RedBridge poll for the music industry body ARIA found 78% of Australians want AI companies to keep needing permission before training on Australian creative work, even if some firms then stop training here. Only 9% would change the law. The Joint Select Committee on AI is due to report by 30 November.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What the poll found
Seventy-eight per cent of Australians would keep the rule that AI companies must get permission before using Australian creative work, even if some firms then chose not to train their models here. Nine per cent would change the law. No age, gender, income or education group fell below 65%.[1]
RedBridge Group surveyed 1,524 adults online between 8 and 10 October 2026 for ARIA, the Australian Recording Industry Association, which campaigns against any copyright exception for AI training.[1] "In years of polling I have rarely seen public opinion this clear and this defined," said RedBridge director Kos Samaras.[2]
Seventy-four per cent said creators should decide whether their work is used to train AI. Fifty-two per cent said they would be more likely to support a party that keeps the permission requirement, against 14% less likely. Sixty-eight per cent said they trust AI companies less after an OpenAI agent accessed non-public Australian Government files without authorisation.[2]
"If there was ever any doubt about where Australians stand on AI and copyright, this polling settles it," said ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd.[2]
Why now
The poll lands while the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence weighs the issue. Herd told the committee on 6 October that OpenAI and Anthropic wanted a deal to train their models in Australia. Anthropic proposed that the government "could permit AI model training through a narrow form of conditional approval", and OpenAI argued for rules that let models train on publicly available information. The committee is due to report by 30 November.[3]
ARIA has held this line for more than a year. In August 2025, it and the PPCA rejected a text and data mining exception examined by the Productivity Commission, arguing existing copyright law already supports licensing deals.[4]
What it means for marketers
For agencies and brands making ads, music and images with generative AI, the outcome decides whether licensing stays the rule for the models they use. A committee recommendation against any exception would leave AI companies needing permission to train on Australian work, and the poll gives politicians a reason to keep it that way.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
- ARIA polling shows strong public opposition to changing copyright laws for AI, Mumbrella
- Majority of Australians don't want copyright laws changed for Big Tech, B&T
- ARIA boss tells Australian lawmakers OpenAI and Anthropic are 'asking government for a free ride' on copyright, Music Business Worldwide
- ARIA and PPCA reject proposal for new AI fair dealing exception in the Copyright Act, ARIA
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who ran the poll?
What did Australians say?
When does the AI committee report?
James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.
