2025 ADM+S Symposium: Automated Social Services – Building Inclusive Futures
Author
Date 5 August 2025
The use of automation in social service delivery took centre stage at the 2025 ADM+S Symposium: Automated Social Services, bringing together researchers, technologists, social service professionals and policymakers, to showcase innovative responses to the challenges of building inclusive, ethical, and responsible automated social services.
Hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) at the University of Queensland 1-4 July, the event welcomed more than 160 in-person attendees from across the Centre and its partner organisations.
Prof Paul Henman, Social Services Focus Area Leader and Chief Investigator at the University of Queensland node of ADM+S, said the Symposium was designed to move beyond critique; to highlight and advance partnerships between ADM+S and social service organisations in positively working towards inclusive AI and automation.
“From high profile automation disasters, such as Robodebt, we are well aware of the harms that can occur when AI and automation is used in delivering social services to people who often are disadvantaged,” he said.
“The Symposium aimed to bring together partners and social service organisations to forge new approaches to using AI and empowering social service service users, professionals and policy makers.”
The four-day symposium offered a comprehensive program of keynote talks, panels, demonstrations, and workshops that examined automation’s expanding role in shaping access, and equity, within digital social services.
A strong focus on co-design and participatory approaches to technology development ran through the program. In the panel “Co-designing Innovative AI/ADM in Social Services,” speakers showcased collaborative projects between researchers and organisations such as the Australian Red Cross, addressing both the promise and the risks of emerging technologies.
ADM+S HDR Poster Competition
The Symposium also celebrated emerging research talent, with an HDR Student Poster Competition recognising outstanding work by ADM+S PhD students:
- Judges’ Award ($1,500 research support funds): Shir Weinbrand (QUT)
Poster title: What is Your Search Query, Their AI Answer: How Google’s AI Overviews Shape Political Information Exposure? - Honourable Mention ($500 research support funds): Caitlin Learmonth (Swinburne)
Poster title: Navigating Digital Health Systems for Sexual Health: A Case Study of Consensual Non-Monogamy
ADM+S Demonstrations
A dedicated session featured digital tools, educational material and workshop outputs from several ADM+S Signature Projects and ADM+S Partner Organisations including:
- The GenAI Arcade (genai-arcade.net) – an interactive platform designed to make generative AI accessible through hands-on learning.
- ‘AI and You’ in collaboration with Tactical Tech – including interactive exhibits Data Detox Bar, Everywhere all the time, Supercharged by AI, What The Future Wants, and Data Detox Kit, the project aims to build public knowledge, elicit community insights, and support global outreach using Tactical Tech’s accessible, open-source materials—empowering diverse audiences to reflect critically on the role of AI in daily life and envision a more inclusive digital future.
- Mortar – a tool to assist document navigation and interpretation, co-designed to enable welfare legal practitioners to better support their clients.
- AI Content Curation Interface Design Patterns – a portfolio of nine discrete interface design pattern concepts, where AI-enabled systems are able to curate content.
- The Wicked Problem of AI Policy Design – an installation of eight artificial ‘wicked problem’ plants, each representing a different wicked problem of AI policy design. Inspired by the concept of problem trees—a method used to unpack the roots and effects of complex issues—each plant visualises the branching structure of a wicked problem.
A highlight of the event was a panel discussion on AI and automated decision-making in government, chaired by ABC Radio National’s Damien Carrick and recorded for The Law Report. The discussion addressed lessons from past failures such as Robodebt, and asked: What safeguards can ensure automated tools serve the public good? The panel focused on practical approaches to building stronger checks and balances for automation in government services, policymaking, and administration.
Listen to the full panel discussion AI and automated decision making in government on the ABC Law Report, ABC Listen.
The symposium concluded with a fireside chat featuring the Hon. Bill Shorten, who reflected on his experiences in social policy reform, including the creation of the NDIS and the Robodebt Royal Commission. The discussion expanded into a panel featuring key advocacy leaders from Economic Justice Australia, QCOSS, and the Disability Advocacy Network Australia, offering a powerful call to action for building more inclusive and human-centred digital futures.
- Watch the 2025 ADM+S Symposium Highlight video
- View the 2025 ADM+S Symposium photo album on ADM+S Flickr
