OpenAI Medicare data breach: Anthony Albanese labels Medicare Statistics Reporting Service security incident unacceptable Open accessibility guide Skip to sections navigation Skip to content Skip to footer Log in Our network Log in Expand navigation menu Search The Sydney Morning Herald logo The Sydney Morning Herald logo Advertisement Breaking Politics Federal AI OpenAI agent breached Medicare, Albanese reveals Rob Harris and David Swan Updated September 24, 2026 — 8:28am , first published 6:25am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A An artificial intelligence agent infiltrated a Medicare website in June, accessing public and non-public files and writing files to an internal server, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed. Speaking to reporters in New York, Albanese said the incident involved an OpenAI agent gaining unauthorised access to the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal, administered by Services Australia. Loading He said the incident occurred in June this year, but the Commonwealth government was only informed via an email from OpenAI on September 10. “This situation is obviously unacceptable,” he said. “And today, I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to express Australia’s extreme concern about this incident, and I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred and the nature of the way that that notification occurred as well was unacceptable.” Advertisement Despite persistent questioning, Albanese would not reveal whether he discussed the breach in his conversation with President Donald Trump last night. “I do it privately ... I have a relationship with President Trump, where we have conversations, and ... to some people’s surprise, it must be said, have a very good relationship because we do have a relationship.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would not reveal whether he discussed the breach in his conversation with President Donald Trump. Dominic Lorrimer Related Article Updated AI ‘Same sense of urgency’: UN chief compares AI risk to nuclear weapons Albanese said there was no evidence so far that personal information had been accessed or that the broader Services Australia network had been compromised, but a forensic investigation was under way with the assistance of the Australian Signals Directorate. He said the government was also aware of three other systems that may be affected: the Commonwealth’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research; and the Victorian Department of Health. Advertisement Early evidence Albanese spoke briefly to Victorian Premier Ben Carroll and NSW Premier Chris Minns last night. He said the early evidence has found the agent accessed publicly available files, as well as material not intended for public access. “Evidence currently available is there is no broader compromise to the Services Australia network. Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable,” he said. “No personal information is believed to have been accessed at this stage, but investigations are ongoing,” Albanese said. Advertisement He said the incident began on June 18 when an OpenAI research team used an internal model to conduct internet-based research into the public medicine space. The AI agent encountered repeated blocks while seeking information from the government portal but found ways around them, ultimately gaining unauthorised access to other areas. “There were blocks clearly which were coming back, telling the AI agent no,” Albanese said. “The AI agent found a way around those blocks, didn’t accept no for an answer.” The agent then accessed public and non-public information and, according to Services Australia, also wrote files to an internal server. Albanese said OpenAI did not notify the government until September 10, almost three months after the incident, and did so by sending an email to a public mailbox. OpenAI chief Sam Altman. Bloomberg Advertisement Services Australia subsequently reported the notification to the Australian Cyber Security Centre on September 15. The agency informed Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher of the incident last week, with Albanese saying he was briefed over the weekend. Task force The government will establish a task force led by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to urgently examine the incident and determine whether existing processes are adequate for responding to AI-related cyber incidents. The task force will include the National Cyber Security Coordinator, the Office of AI, the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian AI Safety Institute and Services Australia. The review will examine possible law enforcement and legislative responses, while the incident will also be referred to Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Advertisement Albanese said the government would seek urgent advice on whether offences had been committed and whether the matter should be referred to the Australian Federal Police. The incident will also feed into the government’s planned AI standards legislation. Related Article Live National News Live Australia news LIVE: PM reveals OpenAI agent broke into Medicare; Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years for sexual assault OpenAI said its models had accessed “several Australian government websites and services” during an internal evaluation. The models were trying to look up answers and statistics for questions about Australia. “In the course of that, our models took actions we did not intend,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. The company said its review found no evidence that patient records had been accessed. It said the information accessed included aggregate health statistics and internal file names. Advertisement OpenAI said the activity took place in June, but it did not become aware of it until August. It found the activity du