Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly entering the Australian charitable sector. Its adoption is reshaping how charities allocate resources, interact with end-users and beneficiaries, and exercise institutional discretion.

This white paper examines the adoption and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) by Australian charities, finding the benefits for the sector come with particular risks. Although AI adoption in charities is driven by structural necessity, not technological ambition, algorithmic decision-making could introduce new risks of accountability gaps and discrimination.

The paper proposes a trustworthiness-based framework to ensure AI deployment strengthens, rather than undermines, charitable purpose and public trust. It articulates six governance principles for charitable AI adoption:

1. charitable purpose must retain its primacy
2. end-user and beneficiary voices must be centred
3. algorithmic transparency and explainability
4. proactive bias identification and mitigation
5. meaningful human oversight and override
6. clear accountability allocation.