Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Economy and Infrastructure Committee

Inquiry into Workplace Surveillance

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (10:31): I rise to support the Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s inquiry into workplace surveillance, which was tabled in May 2025. The act of surveillance, which refers to the close observation or the act of watching a person or a place, of course is not something new, and the act of surveillance has been traced back way through the history of humanity both for the purpose of public good but also the public not so good. Over the years there have been many examples of how surveillance can be utilised, as I said, for good and bad but also be considered an infringement of one’s liberty, rights and wellbeing over time without the appropriate checks and balances. For example, the Victorian penal system, including at Pentridge prison, once created centrally controlled prison blocks that were known as panopticons, a large circular prison block, each cell divided like a pizza slice. A central guard tower could keep constant watch on each individual inmate in each cell, where prisoners were isolated in their cells for 23 hours a day, and they were allowed 1 hour exercise, during which they were required to cover their faces with masks so as to prevent interaction with other prisoners. The royal commission into Pentridge in 1870 was later told the panopticons were responsible for generating more mental illness than any other division in Pentridge, and over subsequent years the panopticons were eventually dismantled and demolished in an example of how state laws keep pace with community expectations.

While we no longer have panopticons to keep watch here in Victoria, surveillance approaches and tactics has very much continued to evolve in the absence of appropriate checks and balances – namely, when it comes to Victorian employers monitoring Victorian employees without their awareness, consent or support. That is why on 14 May 2024 the committee was tasked with undertaking an inquiry to help us understand the extent to which surveillance data is being collected, shared, stored, disclosed, sold, disposed of and otherwise utilised in Victorian workplaces. The inquiry found very clearly that in many ways modern day panopticons are very much still in operation throughout Victorian workplaces without the knowledge, consent or awareness of a vast number of Victorian workers. Employers are now monitoring Victorian workers at unprecedented levels, and employees are none the wiser. We heard a mountain of evidence from a range of employee, academic and community organisations which clearly demonstrated we need to modernise our Victorian workplace surveillance, monitoring and privacy legislation to keep pace with employer workplace monitoring technology, and I would particularly like to acknowledge all of the union and community organisations that gave really good submissions and evidence.

Based on this extensive feedback, the inquiry found workplace surveillance has accelerated in recent years in Victoria and indeed worldwide as a result of the technological advancements and shift to remote working, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic and working from home phenomenon. In a short space of time surveillance has advanced beyond camera footage and the recording of telephone calls to incorporate key logging, wearable trackers, biometrics, neurotechnology and artificial intelligence, AI. Employers monitoring employees via optical listening, computer or tracking devices is growing in popularity in workplaces around the world and in Victoria, and surveillance technology has become more sophisticated, affordable and easy to use over the past two decades. Yet Victoria’s workplace surveillance laws have not changed since the Surveillance Devices Act 1999, the amended act of 2006 and the subsequent Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014. Since then privacy and surveillance laws have also not kept pace in other jurisdictions, but we look towards New South Wales and the ACT as models for reform.

It became clear throughout the inquiry that many Victorian workers are unaware of the extent of surveillance in their workplace and how their employers are handling and storing data collected through workplace surveillance. Whether in white-collar roles or blue-collar roles, we heard numerous examples of how workplace surveillance is impacting workers’ mental health, wellbeing and productivity, and it is through this unregulated encroachment in the working from home space that concern was particularly raised.

That is why the committee put forward 29 comprehensive findings and recommendations to begin reforming in this space, recommendation 1 being that the Victorian government introduce new principles-based workplace surveillance legislation that is technology-neutral, defines a workplace as wherever work occurs and places a positive obligation on employers to prove through a risk assessment that any surveillance they conduct is reasonable, necessary and proportionate to achieve stated legitimate objectives.

I will not go through all the recommendations, but I will note, however, that notwithstanding this overwhelming evidence we received, the Liberal Party decided to put in a dissenting report, which is quite concerning. Also, the silence from big business and the big technology companies not wanting to participate spoke volumes and frankly showed their unwillingness to participate and reform this space, because, frankly, it has been the Wild West in this space for a long time, and that must come to an end. The Liberal Party put forward a submission essentially saying that we must remain in the current context with 1999 legislation, when Mambo No. 5 was the number one song and we had Nokia 5110s and Nokia 3210s. They are living in the past. We have now since of course had significant technology evolution, and we must keep pace.