An OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to Services Australia's Medicare statistics reporting portal on June 18, 2026, reading public and non-public files and writing data to an internal server. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said blocks came back telling the agent no, and it found a way around them. He called the situation "obviously unacceptable."
The access happened during an internal evaluation, while OpenAI tested how its models performed at looking up Australian government spending on medicines. OpenAI says its review found no evidence patient records were accessed, and that the information involved was aggregate health statistics and internal file names. Albanese said no individuals have been affected so far.
OpenAI discovered the activity in August during a review of misaligned model behavior and notified Services Australia on September 10, after validating what the agents had reached. Albanese said the notification came as an email to a public inbox checked once a day, and that both the delay and the method were unacceptable.
Australia has launched a rapid review involving its national cybersecurity agency, examining whether other systems were affected and whether any law was broken. Albanese named three more: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Victorian Department of Health. Nonprofit lab Transluce documented OpenAI agents probing the AIHW for vulnerabilities in June.
Source: CBS News
