How much, if any, is the total (finalised) budget in the Minister's departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, for the 2026/27 financial year on artificial intelligence- including costs on training staff, deploying systems, maintaining subscriptions and any other associated costs?

Answer

Crown Law has budgeted $128,000 in the 2026/27 financial year for Microsoft Copilot licences. Other than that, Crown Law’s overall IT budget does not specifically differentiate between AI and non-AI technology. Instead, it focuses on costs for maintenance of existing systems and licenses, and project costs for IT transformation initiatives, which includes both ongoing security enhancements and exploring new technologies. The total budget allocated at Parliamentary Counsel Office for artificial intelligence related expenditure in the 2026/27 financial year is $225,000 relating to deploying AI tools, licenses, subscriptions and other associated operating costs. There is another $225,000 earmarked for AI workstream initiatives approved in the PCO's 2026/27 Business Plan for the development and implementation of AI tools relating to the drafting legislative work programme.