AI models and tools: agents that work in the background, and wait for your OK
The theme of the week was AI agents: software that carries out tasks for you, not just answers questions. For transparency, this brief is written with Anthropic's Claude, and two of this week's items come from Anthropic.
On 21 October Anthropic released Claude Duet as a research preview, meaning an early version still being tested. It is a separate app that sends a morning summary of the important items across your connected apps, keeps an eye on them during the day and works on tasks you hand it. Anthropic aims it at professionals and small business owners.1 It can read and draft on its own, but before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows you the action and waits for approval. Some actions, such as moving money between accounts, are off limits even with approval.1
There are limits worth noting. Access is by waitlist, starting with Pro and Max subscribers in the US, so it is not available to most Australian businesses yet. It shares the plan's usage limits, including for background checks, and Anthropic says it may misread a thread or misjudge what is urgent.1
The next day, Anthropic handed Agent Skills to the Agentic AI Foundation, a group run under the Linux Foundation. A skill is a folder of written instructions, and any files needed, that teaches an AI agent how to do a particular task. Anthropic says more than 70 agent platforms have adopted the format since December 2025 and about 1 million skills have been published.2 Engineers from Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and other companies will maintain it, and the roadmap includes security guidance for people who write and install skills.2
What it means for a small business: instructions you write once, such as how you word a quote or reply to a complaint, are becoming more portable between AI tools. The approval step matters more than the features. Whatever agent you try, check what it can do without asking you first.
AI trends: say when AI wrote it, and check it yourself
From 20 October, anyone who uses generative AI (tools that write text, such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini) to prepare a document for a Fair Work Commission case must say so and explain how it was used.3 A person must check that every fact, case and quote is real and supports the point being made, and declare that the check was done. Asking another AI tool to review the document does not count.3
Witness statements must reflect the witness's own knowledge and words. Using AI only to fix spelling, grammar or formatting is outside the rules. The Commission also warns against putting personal or confidential case details into public AI tools.3 If a party does not comply, its documents can be given less weight or ignored, it can be ordered to pay costs, or its case can be dismissed.3
This matters to employers who defend an unfair dismissal or general protections claim. An HR adviser employed by the business counts as a professional representative under the rules.3 In WA, sole traders, unincorporated partnerships and unincorporated trusts with no Pty Ltd entity are in the state system rather than the national Fair Work system, so check which system applies to you.4
The wider push is towards checking and accountability. Earlier this month, Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton outlined a plan to make developers of the most advanced AI systems show their safety systems work. National AI standards are due by the end of 2026, with legislation planned for 2027.5
Work and productivity software: Gemini for small business, and a record of what AI said
On 20 October Google announced Gemini tools for small business owners. They include a business landing page, marketing and finance skills, and connections to Google Business Profile, Google Ads and Workspace, plus third-party apps including Canva, Dropbox, Shopify and Xero.6 Google says Gemini can turn spreadsheets, receipts and purchase records into charts and simple financial models. The tools are rolling out globally to Gemini app users, but Google does not mention Australia or pricing, so check what your account shows.6
Before connecting your accounting software to any AI assistant, decide who in the business may do it, what the assistant can see, and whether it can change anything or only read.
For businesses on Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise and some other editions, administrators can now search and export staff conversations with Gemini through Google Vault, Google's tool for keeping and finding records. Filters include user and date, and exports cover prompts, responses and attachments.7 Retention rules and legal holds for these conversations are not available yet.7 Smaller updates last week included meeting recaps in Google Chat, Gemini in Sheets on iPhone and speech translation in Meet across 63 languages.8
Workforce: fewer people in work as price figures and a rate decision loom
Australia's unemployment rate was 4.7% in September, seasonally adjusted. There were 39,000 fewer people employed and 9,000 more unemployed than in August, and the participation rate fell to 66.8%.9 The trend unemployment rate, which the ABS treats as its best measure of the underlying market, held at 4.6%. Underemployment, meaning people who want more hours, rose to 6.3%.9
The ABS urges caution with these monthly figures. It has changed how part of the survey is collected, and some effect may remain in the September seasonally adjusted data.9
A busy fortnight follows. The ABS publishes September consumer prices on Wednesday 28 October and producer prices for September on Friday 30 October.10 The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Board meets on 2–3 November.11 The September price figures are worth watching before you set your prices for next year.
Perth and WA: a tighter jobs market and a building backlog
WA's unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in September, seasonally adjusted, down 0.2 points on August. In trend terms it was 4.3%, unchanged.12 That is below the national rate of 4.7%, and in our view it may mean experienced staff in WA are still hard to find.9
WA builders are starting far more homes than they are finishing. The ABS counted 7,240 dwelling commencements in WA in the June quarter, seasonally adjusted, up from 5,930 in the March quarter and 5,872 a year earlier.13 Completions went the other way: 4,814 in the June quarter, down from 5,136 in March and 5,277 a year earlier.13 These are preliminary figures that may be revised.13
For trades and service businesses that follow construction, such as electricians, plumbers, cleaners, landscapers and air-conditioning installers, a growing number of unfinished homes may mean a long pipeline of work. It may also mean more competition for the same skilled workers.
On 19 October CCIWA released its budget submission for 2027-28. It asks the State Government to raise the payroll tax threshold to $1.3 million for metropolitan businesses and $1.5 million in regional WA, saying wage growth is pushing more small businesses into paying it.14 It also calls for more investment in apprenticeships and traineeships and better incentives for employers, noting that completion rates have fallen.14 These are proposals, not decisions.
What it means for service businesses and trades
Whether you run a cleaning company, an electrical business, an IT support firm or a small agency, a few steps follow from this week's news.
- Write down what an AI tool may do without you. Before you connect any AI assistant or agent to your email, calendar or accounts, list the actions it must never take alone, such as sending messages, paying bills or deleting records. Prefer tools that show you the action and wait for your approval, as Claude Duet does for messages and payments.1
- Check AI-drafted paperwork before you rely on it. If staff use AI to write letters, warnings or statements, a person should check every fact. In a Fair Work case you must now disclose AI use and declare that the check was done.3
- Keep personal details out of public AI tools. Customer, staff and dispute details belong in your own systems, not in free chat tools.
- Review prices after the September inflation figures. The consumer price figures land on 28 October and producer prices on 30 October.10 If you quote fixed-price work, check your material and labour rates against them.
- Plan for payroll tax if you are growing. If wage growth is bringing your business close to the WA threshold, talk to your accountant now, whatever happens to CCIWA's proposal.14
If you are weighing up an AI assistant for everyday admin, the EasyDone AI agent lets your team ask how to do something, get help understanding a report or have a draft prepared. Your agent carries out the work within the permissions you give it, and we connect it to your business during setup. Talk to us using the form below.
