AI is now an integral part of today’s digital landscape, transforming the way South Australian councils operate, connect with their communities, and deliver essential services. As IT Teams begin unlocking AI’s potential, a crucial question arises: Can we trust it?
In 2026, trust in AI will be as critical as the technology itself. For IT Managers within local government, navigating this new terrain means balancing innovation with governance, ethics, and transparency.
AI offers councils powerful tools to:
South Australian councils are actively piloting AI across planning, asset management, and service delivery. This is underpinned by The AI Adoption Toolkit (developed by LGA SA, LGITSA, and LG Professionals SA) to provide a robust framework specifically tailored to the sector's requirements.
Despite the benefits, AI adoption raises legitimate concerns:
During early adoption, some council teams hesitated to embrace AI-generated results, citing concerns about reliability—ultimately negating the anticipated efficiency improvements. Establishing internal confidence is therefore as vital as maintaining transparency with the broader community.
Begin with low-risk applications that offer immediate value—such as automating meeting minute capture or generating concise summaries of case files. Demonstrate tangible outcomes early before expanding AI adoption more broadly.
Invest in high-quality data, robust metadata management, and strong privacy controls. Align data practices with the LGITSA Data Governance Framework wherever applicable.
Embed clear review processes alongside AI implementation. Ensure council staff have the ability to challenge or validate AI-driven outputs.
Use Australia’s AI Ethics Principles as a foundation, ensuring every AI initiative prioritises fairness, transparency, privacy protection, and human-centred values.
Publish transparency statements detailing how AI technologies are implemented, the types of data underpinning these systems, and the logic behind automated decision-making. This bolsters public trust but also positions councils to meet evolving compliance obligations.
AI can reshape how local councils operate, but its success relies on building and maintaining trust at every step. For IT Managers in South Australian councils, the imperative is clear: pursue AI adoption thoughtfully, communicate processes and decisions with transparency, and implement solutions that benefit both employees and the wider community.
Trust isn’t a barrier—it’s the foundation.