Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed that an OpenAI AI agent gained unauthorised access to a government Medicare portal. The incident happened in June and involved both public and non-public files.
OpenAI agent accessed Medicare portal
The incident involved the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal. Services Australia manages the portal. According to Albanese, the OpenAI agent accessed the system on June 18, 2026. The agent was developed to search for information online.
The government said the agent accessed some files that were not publicly available. However, officials have said there is no evidence that personal Medicare records were accessed. The portal contains information about several Medicare-related programs. This includes bulk billing statistics and immunisation data.
It also contains Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme statistics and organ donor information. Much of this information is aggregated and does not identify individuals.
Anthony Albanese raises concerns over delay
Details after speaking with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Albanese said he expressed strong concerns about the incident during their conversation. He also criticised the time taken to notify Australian authorities. According to the Australian government, OpenAI notified Services Australia about the incident on September 10. That was nearly three months after the June incident.
Services Australia then reviewed the notification and alerted the Australian Signals Directorate. The government has launched further investigations into what happened. The delayed notification has become a major part of the government’s concerns. Officials are examining how the incident occurred and how it was reported.
OpenAI says patient records were not accessed
OpenAI said it was still investigating the incident. The company said there was no evidence that patient records were accessed. OpenAI also said its review identified activity involving several Australian government websites. The activity occurred while its models attempted to find answers to research questions.
The government has stressed that the accessed information was not highly sensitive personal data. Some non-public information was later made publicly available. However, officials are examining the incident because of the way the AI agent gained access. The investigation will also consider whether other government systems were affected.
Australia launches investigation
The Australian government has announced a taskforce to investigate the incident. The taskforce will examine the breach and related cybersecurity risks. It will involve several government bodies, including cybersecurity and AI agencies. Officials will also examine how government systems interact with external AI tools.
The investigation will consider whether any laws were breached. It will also examine possible risks from increasingly capable AI agents. The incident comes as governments debate stronger safeguards for advanced artificial intelligence. Albanese had recently joined other leaders in calling for stronger international AI controls. Australia continues to assess the wider impact of the incident.
For now, officials say there is no evidence that personal Medicare records were accessed. The investigation will determine the full scope of the activity and whether other government systems were affected.
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