Government agencies will need to fortify their cybersecurity defences to guard against future attacks. Government agencies will need to fortify their cybersecurity defences to guard against future attacks. Home affairs department orders all federal government agencies to conduct review of'legacy technology' amid fallout from AI agent hacks Fri 2 Oct 2026 11.00 EDTLast modified on Fri 2 Oct 2026 11.02 EDT The Australian government faces significant "tech debt" that could bring a big bill for taxpayers after the OpenAI Medicare breach, as government agencies will need to fortify their defences against future attacks by AI agents. This week, the home affairs department ordered all federal government agencies to conduct a "legacy technology stocktake" that requires a plan for each agency to "reduce legacy technology systems" to a level within the agency's risk tolerance and appetite, the direction stated. OpenAI this week revealed an internal agent had gained non-public access to the Services Australia Medicare statistics portal during a training task seeking information on government spending on skin conditions in Victoria.

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Anthony Albanese (left) challenged the OpenAI boss, Sam Altman, after the company's agent infiltrated systems run by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Victoria's Department of Health, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Medicare statistics reporting service portal of Services Australia. Anthony Albanese (left) challenged the OpenAI boss, Sam Altman, after the company's agent infiltrated systems run by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Victoria's Department of Health, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Medicare statistics reporting service portal of Services Australia. AI hack of Medicare exposes Australia's vulnerabilities and experts warn'there is more of this to come' Technology experts have warned revelations an artificial intelligence agent hacked Medicare's internal systems will not be the only dangerous breach of government data and have called for Australia to boost its protections against the growing risk. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, challenged the OpenAI boss, Sam Altman, on Thursday after the company's agent infiltrated systems run by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Victoria's Department of Health, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Medicare statistics reporting service portal of Services Australia. OpenAI alerted the government earlier this month to the June hacking via an email to a public-facing address, a situation Albanese called "obviously unacceptable".

Share How an OpenAI'agent' hacked Australia's Medicare and what that means on social media Australian authorities have raised the alarm after OpenAI-powered models hacked into a government health data system in June, slipping past its digital defences and accessing files without authorisation. This is the first publicly known case of artificial intelligence (AI) "agents" - AI-powered software systems that can carry out tasks autonomously - breaking into a government website, and the latest of several AI breaches of external systems. Global powers must cooperate to ensure this, they have said. A research scientist at AI firm Anthropic, Evan Hubinger, went so far as to say he believes there is a greater than 10 percent chance AI could "kill all humans" within a decade. Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said there is a risk of AI moving "so fast that people can no longer follow what's happening or intervene when needed".

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed a security breach of a government website containing Australians' health data by an "AI agent", less than a day after signing a joint appeal for "urgent global guardrails" around artificial intelligence. Australia's Labor government is tightening tech regulations with new online safety laws, age bans and proposed digital duty of care frameworks. Albanese said he had spoken to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to express Canberra's "extreme concern" about the hack and disappointment that the company took three months to admit the breach. OpenAI responded in the hours after the news conference, stating that while it was still investigating, there was no evidence patient records were accessed. The company's review had identified activity involving several Australian government websites and services as its "models attempted to look up answers", it said.

Anthony Albanese says he had spoken to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman after an AI agent breached Medicare in June. Anthony Albanese says he had spoken to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman after an AI agent breached Medicare in June. Anthony Albanese says OpenAI agent hacked Medicare and he expressed'extreme concern' to Sam Altman Prime minister says he told chief executive he was disappointed it had taken company'way too long' to inform government of breach Anthony Albanese says an artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI hacked Medicare in June. Australia's prime minister made the comments at the UN summit in New York, saying it appeared no personal information had been accessed. Investigations were ongoing, however, into how the agent had infiltrated Australia's government-run universal health care system.

Follow this author to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. When Cástulo de la Rocha arrived at the East LA Barrio Free Clinic in 1977, he had just moved back from Berkeley, where he'd gone to law school. "I pulled up in my old beat-up Volkswagen. I had long hair for sure, holes in my pants and things like that. So a very typical hippie," he recalls.

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Medicare and Social Security scams target older adults through phone calls, texts, and emails impersonating government agencies. Spot warning signs and protect against identity theft.