Strata CCTV rules by state: NSW, Victoria and Queensland
Common-property CCTV is governed mainly by your state's surveillance-devices law and your scheme's by-law, not the Privacy Act. Victoria makes it an offence to optically record a private activity without consent; New South Wales regulates optical surveillance more narrowly, and Queensland has no general optical-surveillance offence at all and regulates only audio . Whichever state, the safe practical rule is the same: keep cameras off private lots and disable audio. These laws bind you even if your business is inside the small-business exemption.
By Jon Oates, Founder of Privaproof · Last updated
General information, document templates and tools you tailor, not legal advice. Privaproof is not a law practice.
Two different laws, and only one depends on your turnover
Before the state detail, hold the structure clear, because most templates blur it.
- State surveillance-devices law governs where cameras may point, whether audio may be recorded, and who may view footage. It applies to the camera itself and binds you regardless of the Privacy Act, so it reaches even a small independent manager who is under A$3 million and outside the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
- The Privacy Act (APPs) governs the footage as personal information once you hold it, but only if your managing-agent business is a covered APP entity (turnover over A$3 million, or a related body corporate of a larger covered group). If you are genuinely exempt, the APPs do not reach your footage, but the surveillance law still does. Read: does the Privacy Act apply to strata managers?
So "am I covered by the Privacy Act?" and "is this camera lawful?" are two separate questions with two separate answers. This page is about the first law: the state surveillance rule that applies to every scheme.
The rules that hold in every state
Wherever your buildings are, these apply:
- The owners corporation must authorise common-property cameras. In New South Wales, installing a surveillance device on common property is a change to common property, which the owners corporation must authorise by special resolution (NSW Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 s 108, "Changes to common property"), and many schemes also pass a by-law governing the cameras themselves. Victoria and Queensland reach the same result through their own owners-corporation and body-corporate rules for altering or using common property. A manager should not switch on common-property cameras on their own authority.
- Video only, never audio, unless you are certain. Recording a private conversation is treated far more strictly than recording vision across every Australian jurisdiction, and in several it is a criminal offence. The safe baseline is to disable audio on all common-property cameras.
- Cameras must not capture inside private lots. A camera aimed into someone's front door, window, balcony or courtyard is the classic breach. Field of view should be confined to genuinely common areas.
- Signage and controlled access. People should be told recording is taking place, and footage should be held securely with a short retention period and a defined list of who may view it. If your business is a covered APP entity, this is also an APP 5 (notice) and APP 11 (security and destruction) obligation, not just good practice.
The differences between states sit on top of that shared baseline, and they are real.
New South Wales
New South Wales regulates optical surveillance under the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW), but its optical-surveillance offence is narrower than Victoria's: it turns on entering premises or interfering with a device without consent, rather than on recording a "private activity" as such . Audio is the strict control (see below). In practice the rule that matters for common-property cameras is the same either way: they are appropriate over shared areas, but pointing one at a private lot, a specific unit's entrance, or an area where a resident has a reasonable expectation of privacy is the danger zone, and (if your business is a covered APP entity) the APPs apply to the footage.
Audio is stricter again: the same Act restricts listening devices, so recording private conversations on common property should be treated as off-limits.
Authorisation for the cameras themselves flows through the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) changes-to-common-property provision (s 108), by special resolution and commonly a supporting by-law. Read: CCTV and surveillance on strata common property
Victoria
Victoria has the clearest optical-surveillance offence of the three. The Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) makes it generally an offence to knowingly use an optical surveillance device to record a private activity to which the person is not a party, without consent, subject to exceptions . So the practical rule is firm: shared-area cameras are fine, cameras trained on private lots are not.
Approval to install on common property runs through the Victorian owners-corporation rules for use of and changes to common property . Audio is again the tightest constraint, so keep common-property cameras video-only.
Queensland
Queensland is the outlier, and this is the single most important state distinction on this page. Queensland has historically had no general optical-surveillance offence. Its Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 regulates audio (listening devices) but does not create the across-the-board offence for visually recording a private activity that Victoria does (New South Wales sits in between, with a narrower optical offence). ⚠️ This is the state distinction most likely to change, and it is worth knowing before you plan around it. The Queensland Law Reform Commission has recommended criminal prohibitions covering optical, tracking and data surveillance devices, and the Department of Justice has consulted on introducing them in stages. Nothing has commenced, so the position above is current, but a Queensland scheme installing cameras on the strength of that gap should treat it as the position today rather than a settled one. The result is that common-property visual recording in Queensland is largely lawful, subject to other limits such as nuisance, trespass and stalking law, and body-corporate approval to install.
That does not make Queensland a free-for-all. Three things still bite:
- Audio is still regulated, so audio recording remains the high-risk feature to disable.
- Body corporate approval to install and use cameras on common property is still required under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) framework .
- If your management business is a covered APP entity, the footage is still personal information under the Privacy Act, so APP 5 notice and APP 11 security and destruction still apply regardless of the softer state surveillance position.
So the honest Queensland message is: the state surveillance-device barrier is lower, but the Privacy Act and body-corporate barriers are unchanged, and a manager operating across Queensland and other states should not assume the Queensland approach travels.
Other states: check your state
Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory each have their own surveillance-devices legislation with their own wording and exceptions , and their own strata or unit-titles rules for common-property approval. We cover New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland in depth and would rather tell you to confirm your own state's Act than imply we maintain all eight. Before you rely on any camera position, check the current surveillance-devices law for the state the building is in.
The practical rule for a strata manager
Put the three layers together and the workable position across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland is:
1. Get a by-law or body-corporate approval before any common-property camera goes live. 2. Disable audio on every common-property camera, everywhere. 3. Aim cameras at shared areas only, never into or across private lots, and be especially careful in Victoria, where recording a private activity can be an offence, and keep cameras off private lots in every state regardless. 4. Put up signage and lock down footage: secure storage, a short retention period, and a named, short list of who may view it. 5. If your business is a covered APP entity, layer APP 5 notice and APP 11 security and destruction on top of the state rule, in every state including Queensland.
Get those five right and you are on the right side of the material differences between states. Read: facial recognition, ANPR and smart surveillance in strata buildings
Common questions
Is CCTV on strata common property covered by the Privacy Act or by state law?
Both can apply, but they are separate. Your state's surveillance-devices law governs the camera itself (where it may point, whether audio is allowed, who may view footage) and binds you regardless of turnover. The Privacy Act's APPs govern the footage as personal information, but only if your managing-agent business is a covered APP entity. A small exempt manager still has to obey the state surveillance law.
Can we point a common-property camera at a unit's front door?
In Victoria this is the high-risk move, because it is an offence to optically record a private activity without consent. In New South Wales the optical-surveillance offence is narrower, but a private entrance can still attract a reasonable expectation of privacy and, if your business is covered, the APPs . The safe approach is to confine the field of view to genuinely shared common areas and keep cameras off private lots.
Is Queensland really different?
Yes. Queensland has historically had no general optical-surveillance offence and regulates only audio under the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 , so common-property visual recording is largely lawful there subject to nuisance, trespass and stalking limits. Audio recording is still regulated, body-corporate approval is still needed, and if your business is a covered APP entity the Privacy Act still applies to the footage.
Can our cameras record audio?
Treat that as no. Recording private conversations is restricted far more strictly than vision across Australian jurisdictions, and in several it is a criminal offence. Disable audio on all common-property cameras unless you have specific, current advice that it is lawful in your state and situation.
Do we need owners' approval to install cameras?
Generally yes. Cameras on common property are usually a change to or use of common property that needs a by-law or body-corporate approval in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland . A manager should not install common-property surveillance on their own authority.
This is general information and document templates you tailor to your own business, not legal advice. Privaproof is not a law practice and does not provide legal advice. State surveillance-devices law and strata or body-corporate approval rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time, and several section references and the current Queensland position are marked for verification above, so confirm the current law for the state your building is in. Whether the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) also applies to your footage depends on your business's turnover and structure. Privaproof's strata documents are self-authored and are not independently reviewed by a solicitor. For advice on your specific circumstances, consult a qualified Australian legal practitioner.