AI Training and Copyright
YouGov polling commissioned by Good Ancestors
Key Resources
Overview
Good Ancestors commissioned YouGov to survey Australians on one of the most consequential open questions in Australian AI policy: should Australian copyright law be updated to enable AI companies to train models in Australia and, if so, how should Australian creators and rightsholders be supported?
Data
Do you think the Australian government should develop more flexible copyright laws to attract AI investment, if there are also new measures to support Australian creators?
| Response | % |
|---|---|
| Yes | 48 |
| No | 24 |
| Don't know | 28 |
Australia runs a government-administered fund that pays authors whose books are held in public libraries, recognising that others benefit freely from their work. Would you support a similar arrangement where AI companies training in Australia pay into a fund that supports Australian creators?
| Response | % |
|---|---|
| Yes | 57 |
| No | 18 |
| Don't know | 25 |
If current laws in Australia requiring copyright licensing meant that AI companies invested in AI training overseas instead of Australia, would you prefer Australia to...
| Response | % |
|---|---|
| Enable AI training in Australia under a different copyright arrangement that still supports Australian creators | 61 |
| Keep current copyright laws unchanged, even if this means AI companies train overseas and Australian creators receive little or no payment | 15 |
| Don't know | 24 |
Methodology
- Sample: 1,511 Australian voters
- Fieldwork: 26 March – 2 April 2026
- Method: Online survey administered to the YouGov Australian panel
- Weighting: Representative of the voting population by age, gender, region, income, education, 2025 Federal Election vote, and 2023 Voice Vote
- Conducted by: YouGov plc
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.
Preamble
Respondents were given a short contextual preamble before being asked the questions. The preamble said:
AI companies want to build data centres in Australia. This would bring economic benefits and give Australia a role in the global AI industry. The Australian government has set expectations for new data centres in Australia about energy, water, and net-zero targets.
Copyright is the key outstanding issue. Unlike the US and EU, Australian copyright rules are not designed to allow for AI companies training their models here. Because of this, AI models are trained overseas, and AI companies are hesitant to invest in Australia. This means Australian creators receive little or no compensation when their work is used to train AI overseas.