Quick answer
Yes, if people in the company are already using AI. No, if what you wanted was a 40-page echo of the National AI Plan. The minimum is the short list and a yes or no on the December rule.
Best for: a private company that has been told it “needs an AI strategy” and does not know the minimum version. Honest limit: if nobody in the company uses AI, and no customer decision is automated, you do not need this page yet. Cipher Projects writes the short list and builds when the path is a system. We are not a law firm, and we are not an IRAP assessor.
Last updated: 27 September 2026. Start at AI strategy for an Australian business.
What you do not inherit
A private company does not inherit the APS AI Plan, the AFP AI Strategy, or the NSW AI Strategy. Those documents bind those bodies. One reading of the set is enough: use the map of which Australian AI strategy applies, then close the agency PDFs unless you sell to them.
What you still have
Privacy, consumer law, and workplace law still apply. The December disclosure applies where you are an APP entity. The dates and the split between binding and announced are on the regulation timeline. This page does not restate the legal test.
The minimum strategy
Four lines, the same four decisions as the company page:
- What to automate first. The work that already has an owner, a system, and a cost.
- What not to build. Most AI should not be a custom system.
- Which path. Buy, configure, or build. One path per use case.
- What you can prove by 10 December 2026, if you are an APP entity.
If the list is “buy these three tools,” you do not need a build partner. Get the short list and fill the boxes.
When the minimum is not enough
A use case that touches customers, money, or a decision about a person needs more than the four lines. That is the Australia transformation guide and the evidence post. The next commercial step is the audit on the pricing page, then a build in accounts you own.
FAQ
We have no AI policy. Are we behind the National AI Plan? The plan is not a scoreboard for private companies. You are behind if people are already using AI and nobody owns the outcome. Write the short list before you write a policy that copies a government PDF.
Is a one-page strategy enough? The minimum is the four lines plus a yes or no on 10 December 2026. A longer document is useful when a use case touches customers, money, or a person. It is not useful as a mimic of the National AI Plan.
Where do we start? The AI strategy page.