This week, two stories hit the headlines with a concerning theme: bosses listening in on their workers. Safetrac Australia, an online risk management organisation, has been caught out covertly recording the conversations of its employees in their own homes through their work laptop devices. Meanwhile aviation services company, Swissport, informed their staff that it intends s to continuously record audio and video of anyone on or around any company vehicle at Sydney and Melbourne airports.
Victoria Police has launched an investigation into workplace training company Safetrac following allegations it secretly recorded the audio and computer screens of staff working from home, in potential breach of Victoria’s Surveillance Devices Act 1999.
The company, founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of law firm MinterEllison, is one of Australia’s largest providers of compliance and risk management training. But it now faces questions over its own compliance practices.
Safetrac installed monitoring software in April that allowed the screens and audio of up to 10 employees to be recorded at a time. Chief executive Deborah Coram defended the practice, claiming staff consented through their employment contracts and the company’s surveillance policy. The policy had been altered without formal employee consultation.
The company says it notified workers of the new surveillance measures at a group meeting. It further claimed that the audio recording function was switched off in June.
However, staff reported feeling watched and said they took extraordinary steps to regain privacy including taking calls outside or placing laptops inside cupboards. One employee alleged their child had begun whispering at home to avoid being recorded.
Two employees who wrote to Safetrac raising concerns about privacy breaches were locked out of company systems within days and dismissed weeks later. In August, WorkCover accepted a compensation claim from another employee who developed anxiety and depression linked to the surveillance.
Safetrac maintains that only Ms Coram herself ever listened to the audio recordings. Critics argue the practice undermines the fundamental trust between employer and employee, with added concern that such data could later be fed into artificial intelligence tools to analyse workplace conversations.
Adding to the controversy, in June Ms Coram delivered a webinar to clients on the Commonwealth’s new tort for serious invasions of privacy. The new law, which took effect on 10 June, carries potential penalties of up to $50 million or 30 per cent of annual turnover for repeated privacy breaches. During the webinar, Ms Coram urged businesses to conduct internal audits and seek expert advice on compliance.
Read more about the Safetrac story: Key Partner To Big Retailers Under Investigation For Dodgy Practices – channelnews
Meanwhile, airport services company Swissport is facing strong opposition from unions over plans to fit all of its vehicles with cameras capable of continuously recording video and audio of baggage handlers.
The company argues the technology is needed to detect theft and damage, as well as investigate health and safety incidents. But the Transport Workers Union (TWU) has condemned the proposal, warning it will intimidate staff and undermine workplace safety.
“This Big Brother-esque surveillance of workers is another appalling example of the disdain with which Swissport treats its workforce,” said TWU national secretary Michael Kaine. “When safety concerns are already not taken seriously by Swissport management, this new dystopian technique will only increase distrust of management and with it the risk of serious incidents occurring.”
Swissport currently employs many of the 1,800 baggage handlers unlawfully sacked by Qantas in 2020. The TWU is organising workers to improve pay and conditions, but employees say the threat of audio surveillance will make it harder to hold conversations about union activity.
“Some of us want the union to take more action, and having more surveillance recording our conversations is going to make it a lot harder to have those discussions,” one worker told the union.
The TWU argues that video footage alone should be sufficient to investigate theft, damage or safety issues, and pressed Swissport to justify why audio recording was “reasonably necessary.” The company did not provide details. Swissport also rejected union requests to outline how it would assess and control psychosocial risks arising from the monitoring, claiming the demands were “unreasonable.”
The TWU has so far blocked the rollout of the system, and is now preparing to challenge it with state authorities as a psychosocial health and safety risk.
The dispute comes amid growing union concern about intrusive workplace surveillance and algorithmic management. Such practices have been linked to stress, discrimination, unfair treatment and work intensification. Last year, Woolworths and Lineage warehouse workers in Victoria and NSW staged strikes over algorithmic management systems that unions said treated staff “like robots.” Supported by the United Workers Union, they secured an agreement from Woolworths to halt the system after reports it was causing both physical and psychological harm.
Workplace surveillance was also the subject of a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, which reported in May. The committee found that excessive and opaque monitoring eroded morale, job satisfaction and trust, while increasing risks to mental and physical health. It recommended Victoria introduce new surveillance laws that are technology-neutral and ensure any monitoring is “reasonable, necessary and proportionate” to a legitimate objective.
Read more about the Swissport story: TWU slams ‘dystopian’ Swissport surveillance plans – Australian Aviation
Read more: REPORT – FINDINGS FROM THE INQUIRY INTO WORKPLACE SURVEILLANCE - OHS Reps