The University of Technology Sydney’s Human Technology Institute (HTI) urged Australia to set a legal fairness standard for workplace surveillance, saying monitoring data can affect workers’ hours, pay and discipline.
HTI’s Oct. 20 report, Drawing the Line, calls for an amendment to the Fair Work Act 2009 requiring monitoring to be “fair and reasonable.” The recommendations have not become law.
The report cites March polling by Minderoo Foundation and Talbot Mills involving more than 2,000 Australians. HTI said 43% were aware that some employers used monitoring technology, including artificial intelligence, while 9% knew it was used at their own workplace.
Under HTI’s proposal, workers could bring privacy complaints through a dedicated channel at the Fair Work Commission (FWC). Enterprise agreements and Modern Awards could add protections, and regulators would provide guidance. HTI also wants a minister to have the power to prohibit surveillance products judged to pose an unacceptable risk to workers’ rights, following public consultation and input from regulators.
The institute describes tools ranging from security cameras and screen recording to GPS tracking, biometrics and AI systems that infer emotions. It links wider use of monitoring to cheaper technology and remote work. HTI says employers use surveillance for safety, cybersecurity, productivity and property protection, but unreasonable monitoring can put workers’ privacy and health at risk and erode trust.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says the Privacy Act 1988 does not specifically address workplace surveillance. Other federal, state and territory laws can apply, and Australian Privacy Principles may cover some monitoring records. The act’s employee-record exemption concerns certain private-sector employer practices directly related to both a current or former employment relationship and an employee record the employer holds.
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth gave an example in a July speech, citing a case raised by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association. A retail worker had 20 years of service, she said, when a system generated a warning over a couple of incorrectly scanned items.
HTI said an earlier House of Representatives committee had also recommended a complaints route. Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence is due to report by Nov. 30.
