Employee monitoring law · Australia
In NSW and the ACT: 14 days' written notice, with prescribed content, before you start.
In NSW and the ACT, serve 14 days’ written notice with the prescribed content before you begin.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Instruments
- 3 governing
- Employer duties
- 3 listed
- Last reviewed
- August 22, 2026
Australia · what the law requires
Notice and proportionality
Australia regulates workplace surveillance at state level. New South Wales and the ACT have dedicated statutes requiring at least 14 days' written notice before overt computer surveillance begins, with prescribed content. The kind of surveillance, how it will be carried out, when it starts, whether it is continuous or intermittent, and whether it is ongoing or for a set period. Covert surveillance requires a magistrate's authority. Victoria and other states rely on surveillance devices legislation plus the Privacy Act.
- 14 days' written noticeBefore overt surveillance starts, unless a shorter period is agreed in writing. New employees are notified before they begin.
- Prescribed notice contentKind of surveillance, how it is carried out, when it starts, continuous or intermittent, ongoing or time-limited. All five.
- No covert surveillance without authorityCovert workplace surveillance requires a covert surveillance authority from a magistrate. This is a criminal boundary.
- Proof Ledger
- Outcomes
- Certificates
- Audit log
- Data access
- Disputes
- Data egress
- Export
- What We See
- Controls
- AKAria K. viewed screenshotsLena M. · 3 capturesScreen capturemacOS · London09:42a91f…4c023d7b…91ee
- JMJon M. exported time reportDesign team · CSVmacOS · Berlin09:313d7b…91ee77c5…0ba4
- SDSara D. opened capture reviewRavi P. · one flagged frameWindows · Manchester09:1877c5…0ba4e208…5f13
- wm_live_7f2… read /v1/deliverablesScoped key · read onlyPublic API · allowlisted IP08:57e208…5f13b64a…2d90
- LMLena M. viewed her own recordWhat We SeemacOS · London08:44b64a…2d901cf9…8e77
- AKAria K. changed capture policyBlur set to alwaysmacOS · London08:261cf9…8e7705d2…ae31
The instruments, and which control answers each duty
- Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW): NSW Act 2005 No 47. 14 days' written notice with prescribed content; covert surveillance only under a magistrate's authority; surveillance of an employee's computer must be under a policy notified to them.
- Workplace Privacy Act 2011 (ACT): ACT Act 2011-4. Parallel regime for the Australian Capital Territory.
- Privacy Act 1988 (Cth): Australian Privacy Principles. Applies to organisations over the turnover threshold. The employee records exemption is narrower than commonly assumed and is under active reform pressure.
No product does this part
What you must still do yourself
Compliance is a property of your deployment. These are the steps in Australia that no vendor can complete on your behalf, and skipping them is what turns a rollout into a finding.
- 1Serve the 14-day notice with all five prescribed elements before switching anything on.
- 2Check which state regime applies to each employee. NSW and ACT are not the whole country.
- 3Write the computer surveillance policy the NSW Act assumes exists.
- If you get it wrongPenalties under the NSW Act for surveillance without notice, and criminal exposure for covert surveillance without authority. OAIC civil penalties apply separately under the Privacy Act.
Verify the claim
Every control above, on the page that describes it
- Interval capture with a configured cadenceState whether capture is continuous or intermittent, accurately
- Notice record carrying the version and date each person received itShow notice was given 14 days before, per person
- Employee self-view of everything collectedKeep deployment overt and visible to the employee
Sources and review date
Last reviewed August 22, 2026This is a summary of how employee-monitoring rules generally work in this jurisdiction, written to help you scope a rollout and brief your own advisers. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for it, and law changes. Verify against the primary sources listed and take local counsel before you deploy.
Nearby jurisdictions
Monitoring law elsewhere in Asia Pacific
- IndiaDPDP gives employment a legitimate use, but automated monitoring is argued to sit outside it.
- PhilippinesTransparency, legitimate purpose and proportionality: the three-part NPC test.
- JapanSpecify the purpose of use, publish it, and do not exceed it.
- SingaporeEmployment data has a deemed-consent route, but notification is still mandatory.
- PolandThe Labour Code lists the permitted purposes, and productivity is not one of them.
- United KingdomThe ICO's 2023 monitoring guidance is the operative document, and it expects a DPIA.
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