A community initiative helping people across Greater Newcastle and the Hunter understand artificial intelligence, and have a real say in how it is used here.
The Hunter AI Commons is a grassroots community initiative based in Newcastle and the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. We are forming now, in 2026, to help ordinary people understand artificial intelligence (AI) and shape how it is used across our region. We are a community initiative focused on technology and everyday life: digital literacy, online safety, fairness, children and young people, the local economy, and the way automated systems increasingly make decisions about people.
We bring people together for open conversations about AI. We make plain-language resources that anyone can follow. We keep a shared, public record of what our community is concerned about and wants to see. And we work on practical local issues where the community can make a real difference, such as protecting children in how they use AI, or building scam resilience for older residents and small businesses.
Everyone in the region, of every background, age and view. You do not need to know anything about technology, or hold any particular opinion about AI, to take part. The whole point is that these decisions should not be left only to distant companies and governments.
The Hunter AI Commons is secular, independent and non-partisan. It is not a religious organisation, a political party, a government body, or a business selling a product, and it has no affiliation with any faith, party or company. The word "Commons" refers to a shared resource that a community looks after together. Here, that shared resource is a real say in how artificial intelligence is used where we live.
We are beginning across Greater Newcastle and the Lower Hunter, in 2026, and building out from there. The name is a working one while the initiative takes shape.