Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW)

Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 No 47

An Act to regulate surveillance of employees at work; and for other purposes.

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Name of Act This Act is the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005.

2 Commencement This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

3 Definitions In this Act— at work—see section 5. camera includes an electronic device capable of monitoring or recording visual images of activities on premises or in any other place. covert surveillance means surveillance of an employee while at work for an employer carried out or caused to be carried out by the employer and not carried out in compliance with the requirements of Part 2. covert surveillance authority means an authority issued under Part 4. employee has the same meaning as in the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and includes— (a) a bailee of a public vehicle or a carrier under Chapter 6 (Public vehicles and carriers) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, and (b) a person performing voluntary work (that is, a person performing work without remuneration, reward or obligation). employer has the same meaning as in the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and includes— (a) in the case of an employee who is a bailee of a public vehicle or a carrier under Chapter 6 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996—the bailor of the public vehicle or the principal contractor under that Chapter, and (b) a person for whom an employee performs voluntary work, and (c) another person for whom an employee performs work pursuant to any contract or other arrangement between that other person and the employee's employer (such as a labour hire contract).

Note— Paragraph (c) can result in an employee having 2 employers for the purposes of this Act—the employee's actual employer and another person for whom the employee is doing work under (for example) a labour hire contract between that other person and that employer. employer's representative means a person authorised by an employer to act on behalf of the employer for the purposes of this Act. exercise a function includes perform a duty. function includes a power, authority or duty. law enforcement agency means any of the following— (a) the NSW Police Force, (b) a police force or police service of another State or a Territory, (c) the Australian Federal Police, (d) the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, (e) the Independent Commission Against Corruption, (f) the New South Wales Crime Commission, (g) the Australian Crime Commission, (h) the Department of Corrective Services, (i) the Department of Juvenile Justice, (j) any other authority or person responsible for the enforcement of the criminal laws of the Commonwealth or of the State, (k) a person or body prescribed for the purposes of this definition by the regulations. related corporation, in relation to an employer that is a corporation, means a corporation that is, with respect to the employer, a related body corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth. surveillance of an employee means surveillance of an employee by any of the following means— (a) camera surveillance, which is surveillance by means of a camera that monitors or records visual images of activities on premises or in any other place, (b) computer surveillance, which is surveillance by means of software or other equipment that monitors or records the information input or output, or other use, of a computer (including, but not limited to, the sending and receipt of emails and the accessing of Internet websites), (c) tracking surveillance, which is surveillance by means of an electronic device the primary purpose of which is to monitor or record geographical location or movement (such as a Global Positioning System tracking device).