Last year, Master Electricians Australia (MEA) was invited to appear before the Victorian Parliament to participate in the Inquiry into Workplace Surveillance. We engaged directly with Members of Parliament to advocate for the rights of employers to use surveillance tools appropriately in order to protect company assets and maintain safe working environments, consistent with their positive duty under Work Health and Safety legislation.

MEA emphasised that while it is critical to safeguard employees against the misuse of surveillance data for covert or inappropriate purposes, it is equally important that small businesses are supported to meet their legal obligations and protect their assets in a reasonable and practical manner.

In our submission, we expressed concern about the risk of increasing legal obligations on employers who implement workplace surveillance. In particular, we highlighted our members, who are predominantly smaller sized businesses, often lack the resources to comply with broad and complex regulatory frameworks, and may struggle to stay up to date with legislative changes. Furthermore, we raised the need for protection to avoid third-party overreach and recommended that where access is legally required, it should be limited to ‘read/view only’ permissions.

You can view our full submission to the inquiry here.

Committee Recommendations

The Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee has now released its report, which includes 18 recommendations. The overarching principle recommended is that workplace surveillance must be reasonable, necessary, and proportionate to achieve a legitimate objective. The Committee’s concerns largely centre around the covert use of surveillance and the potential negative impact on employees.

Key recommendations include:

• Requiring employers to notify and consult employees regarding surveillance practices;
• Strengthening data protection through improved transparency around how surveillance data is collected, stored, used, and shared;
• Enhancing employee rights by providing access to their own surveillance data upon request, requiring notification of data breaches, and extending privacy protections to all Victorian workers.

MEA is concerned that the report has not adequately considered the significant impact these changes would have on small businesses, which may lack the capacity to manage additional compliance burdens.

We support the Minority Report’s recommendation that the Victorian Government, in consultation with employer industry groups, develop best practice guidelines for workplace surveillance. This approach would help ensure that the needs and limitations of small businesses are properly taken into account.

We are also disappointed that the recommendations do not address the risk of third-party misuse of surveillance mechanisms. As noted in the Minority Report, such mechanisms “… could be weaponised by unions or others to exert pressure on employers, delay enterprise bargaining processes, or generate frivolous complaints.”

MEA will continue to monitor developments in the Inquiry into Workplace Surveillance and will advocate for a regulatory framework that is practical, balanced, and inclusive of small businesses and their unique challenges.