Esra Tekin
24 September 2026•Update: 24 September 2026
The Australian national health care database was hacked by an OpenAI agent, marking the first identified case of AI hacking a government network, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday.
The AI agent was able to access "both public and non-public files" of the country's Medicare statistic database and it was able to write files into it, Albanese told reporters on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, following his discussion with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The disclosure marks the latest incident involving AI agents behaving unpredictably and taking actions beyond what their human operators intended.
It comes amid growing calls from leading figures in the AI industry, including Altman, for a slower pace of AI development.
Albanese said he conveyed Australia’s “extreme concern” to Altman during a phone call. He also said Canberra was not aware of any previous case in which an AI system had breached a government system.
Australian government orders urgent review of AI rules and governance
The Australian government has initiated an urgent review of its approach to artificial intelligence.
According to a government statement, the review will assess whether current laws and governance frameworks are “fit for purpose” when it comes to preparing for and responding to cyber incidents involving AI.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet will lead the review, which will also examine how Australia shares information with AI companies and other Commonwealth nations.
The government said the findings will contribute to its wider efforts to develop an effective framework for AI governance.
The move comes just a week after OpenAI released reports outlining six incidents involving unexpected or potentially concerning behavior by its AI models. The company also announced plans to monitor and publicly disclose similar incidents in the future.
The reports covered incidents identified between April and August. However, they do not appear to include the latest incident, which OpenAI said it became aware of in June.
