Australian Human Rights Commission Human Rights and Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, 30 November 2023 ‘Stopping Killer Robots – Prohibiting the use of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems’. 44. The speech called for the urgent regulation of LAWS to limit their misuse. The speech summarised the key issues around LAWS, including technical inaccuracies of FRT and its possible implications in rising domestic terrorism and broader arms races. The Commission continues to advocate for LAWS regulation. 45. The Commission has also examined the use of neurotechnologies in military spheres as part of its upcoming Background Report on Neurotechnology and Human Rights. 46. Finally, the Commission has co-led the drafting of an additional submission to this Committee by the NHRI Digital Rights Alliance, alongside the Danish Institute for Human Rights. 7 Question 27 47. Current international law and government policies have not been effective in addressing the challenges of LAWS. There need to be more concentrated efforts focused on establishing a legal framework to protect human rights from the use of LAWS. 48. In establishing a legal framework, stakeholders must decide whether autonomous systems in general should be banned, or just ones that are considered ‘lethal’ – using confirmed definitions of AI, LAWS and autonomous decision systems. The lack of clarity surrounding this issue has hampered past discussions. 49. In this necessary action to establish regulation on LAWS, a prohibition on the technology (where it is incompatible with international human rights law) is needed to ensure compliance with pre-existing international obligations. Recommendation 5: LAWS must be regulated, and where the technology is incompatible with international human rights law – it should be prohibited. 8 Recommendations 1. The Commission makes the following recommendations. 10