  Australia is a leader in autonomous systems technology, particularly in the
mining industry, borne from necessity in a geographically dispersed and complex
natural environment. Increasingly advanced autonomous systems are becoming more
prevalent in Australia, particularly as the safety, environmental and
efficiency benefits become better understood, and the increasing sophistication
of technology improves capability and availability. Increasing use of these
systems, including in the maritime domain and air domain, is placing pressure
on the national safety regulators, who must either continue to apply their
traditional regulatory approach requiring exemptions to enable operation of
emerging technology, or seize the opportunity to put in place an agile and
adaptive approach better suited to the rapid developments of the twenty first
century. In Australia the key national safety regulators have demonstrated an
appetite for working with industry to facilitate innovation, but their limited
resources mean progress is slow. There is a critical role to be played by third
parties from industry, government, and academia who can work together to
develop, test and publish new assurance and accreditation frameworks for
trusted autonomous systems, and assist in the transition to an adaptive and
agile regulatory philosophy. This is necessary to ensure the benefits of
autonomous systems can be realised, without compromising safety. This paper
will identify the growing use cases for autonomous systems in Australia, in the
maritime, air and land domains, assess the current regulatory framework, argue
that Australia's regulatory approach needs to become more agile and
anticipatory, and investigate how third party projects could positively impact
the assurance and accreditation process for autonomous systems in the future.
