Johanna discusses Australia’s draft Children’s Online Privacy Code with Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind and Director of the Code Taskforce Kate Bower. They discuss how the proposed privacy code will work and how it will shape and benefit young people’s privacy in the future, with the potential for positive spillover for all users regardless of age. Carly and Kate also answer questions sent in by TPDi’s three youth ambassadors. Listen to the episode and provide your input on the draft code - consultations open until 5 June 2026!

Links:

OAIC Privacy for Kids (for copy of the draft code, and loads of great resources for parents and kids): https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-for-kids

Participate in a Roundtable on the draft Code: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ff0M3VhFEkuLreommE_EF05_L5kDbTNEstNjz43Wa4FURUNIODE2Ulg0TVRSWlJHQzAzSzVYT0M4MSQlQCN0PWcu

Recap the way the Code might work with Digital Duty of Care: https://techpolicy.au/podcast/part-5-next-steps-australia-v-social-media-mini-series

For transcript and full show notes visit techpolicy.au/podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Johanna looks at whether the past can give us clues about the future with Carl Benedikt Frey, Dieter Schwarz Associate Professor of AI & Work at the Oxford Internet Institute and writer of How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations. They talk about whether progress will end in the context of technology, innovation and (of course) artificial intelligence. They also discuss past events like the industrial revolution and US Gilded Age can tell us about the current technological direction humanity is taking.

In keeping with Tech Mirror’s deep dive into Tech and Geopolitics, Johanna and Carl also discuss who will succeed in the rise of AI - the US or China? And Carl answers the big question: is progress ending in the US?

Links:

Carl’s book - How Progress Ends: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691233079/how-progress-ends

For transcript and full show notes visit techpolicy.au/podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the next deep dive into tech and geopolitics, Johanna Weaver sits down with Tim Coghlan, an Australia global tech and China economy analyst living in Beijing.They talk about geostrategic competition, from the perspective of China. Tim talks about how China has embraced AI, even down to the neighbourhood running track. From China’s strengths, to its vulnerabilities, Tim and Johanna discuss how China is moving forward as a major tech power, how its approach contrasts with the US, and what this means for middle powers like Australia.

Links:

Tim’s USSC article: https://www.ussc.edu.au/intelligent-everything-china-s-policy-to-supercharge-ai-adoption

Lowy Interpreter Article: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/real-ai-gap-between-china-west-isn-t-chips-or-models-stories-we-tell

Kyle Chan’s Substack: High Capacity: https://substack.com/@kyleichan

Jordan Schneider’s Substack: China Talk: https://substack.com/@chinatalk

For transcript and full show notes visit techpolicy.au/podcast

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In the first episode in a deep dive into tech and geopolitics, Johanna Weaver sits down with Martijn Rasser, Vice-President of Technology Leadership at the US Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP). The pair talk about strategic technology competition between the US & China, and what this means for middle power countries like Australia. They also discuss SCSP’s new ‘Tech Scorecards’, the Pax Silica agreement, how conflict in the Middle East is impacting global semi-conductors supply chains, Anthropic’s battle with the US Department of War, and President Trump’s approach to tech policy.

Links

SCSP’s Tech Scorecard: https://scorecard.scsp.ai

Pax Silica declaration (original, from December 2025): https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/pax-silica-declaration-countries-attending-pax-silica-summit-12-december-2025

TPDi’s AI Agency Discussion Draft: www.techpolicy.au/ai-agency

For transcript and full show notes visit techpolicy.au/podcast

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In this episode Johanna Weaver catches up with Jess Wilson, CEO of Good Things; David Masters, Head of Global Public Policy at Atlassian; Lizzie O’Shea, Chair of Digital Rights Watch;  Nick Davis, Co-Director at the UTS Human Technology Institute; and  Meredith Hodgman, Head of Strategy from the Tech Policy Design Institute.

Each of them attended the  recent AI Action Summit in Delhi, a conference that started in at Bletchley Park in 2023 and is now one of the largest gatherings of AI experts in the world. The summits started with a firm focus on safety and existential risk, but have evolved progressively - the focus in India was opportunity & impact. Our guests share what it was like on the ground in Delhi and what their main takeaways have been. Sovereignty, social impact, and human capital are just some of the themes traversed in this episode.

Links

AI Impact Summit Communique: https://d19ob9sqegt2wc.cloudfront.net/stage/uploads/AI_Impact_Summit_Declaration_f208574dfc.pdf

A/Minister Charton’s Speech: https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/charlton/speeches/speech-australian-business-economists-conference

Collective Intelligence Project Global Dialogues: https://www.cip.org/globaldialogues

TPDi’s AI Sovereignty to AI Agency Discussion Paper: https://techpolicy.au/ai-agency

For transcript and full show notes visit techpolicy.au/podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To start off our new season of Tech Mirror, Johanna Weaver is join by her co-founder at the Tech Policy Design Institute, Zoe Hawkins, and the pair look forward into 2026 and take a punt on predicting the hot tech policy topics for the year. Will Australia use its position as a middle power leader to shape technology, rather than just react to it? What domestic tech policy issues will take flight this year? What steps will Australia take to harness the potential of AI? We’ll have to wait till December to see just how well we do with our predictions. Until then, enjoy the episode.

For full show notes visit techpolicy.au/podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.