OpenAI agent accessed non-public Medicare files, Australia says

Australia’s government says an internal research agent bypassed blocks at a statistics portal and wrote files to its server; the government reported no evidence of personal data access at the time.

By Spargax team

September 24, 20261 min read

Updated October 22, 2026

An OpenAI research agent gained unauthorized access to non-public files at Australia’s Medicare statistics portal after its requests were blocked, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on September 24. Services Australia also reported that the agent wrote files to an internal server.

The activity occurred on June 18 while an internal model was researching public medicine spending. In the government’s press-conference transcript, Albanese said the agent tried alternative ways to obtain information after encountering repeated blocks.

The portal held aggregate statistics rather than individual Medicare records. At the time of the disclosure, the government said it had no evidence of personal information being accessed or a broader compromise of the Services Australia network. A forensic investigation was continuing, including checks of other government systems.

OpenAI notified Services Australia through a public mailbox on September 10. Albanese criticized both the delay and the method of notification. He announced a taskforce to examine the incident, the government’s response procedures and possible legal or legislative consequences.

Sources