The Victorians Greens say Jacinta Allan's Labor Government must provide urgent transparency about plans to introduce artificial intelligence into Victoria's public hospital system.
A new Department of Health blueprint flagged the use of AI to identify urgent cases and overhaul outpatient systems, but the government has released little detail publicly about how the technology would work, what patient safeguards would be in place, or how sensitive health data would be protected.
The Greens have criticised Labor for rolling out the red carpet for data centres in Victoria with very little information about how they will be powered without locking Victoria into more expensive gas and higher electricity bills.
The Greens said the announcement appeared to be another example of the Allan Labor Government rushing to embrace AI technologies without proper public scrutiny, regulation or long-term planning.
As stated by the Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens Dr Sarah Mansfield:
"Victoria's public health system is under enormous strain after years of underfunding and it's completely unacceptable that patients are waiting four years for specialist care, but it is deeply concerning that the Allan Labor Government is embracing AI in the public health system without any clear public explanation of how it's going to work."
"AI can't be a substitute for properly funding healthcare or employing doctors, nurses and allied health workers we desperately need, and Victorians deserve transparency about how this is going to work before sensitive health data is handed over to AI systems."
"The Allan Government has been rolling out the red carpet for AI and energy-hungry data centres across Victoria without any serious plan for regulation, oversight or how all of this infrastructure will be powered."
