Surveillance Devices Amendment (Police Body-Worn Video) Act 2014

The NSW Surveillance Devices Amendment (Police Body-Worn Video) Act 2014 has been enacted on the 19 November 2014. The Act amends the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 to allow for the use of body-worn video by police officers. The act will further provide exceptions to police officers with body-worn video from offences that prohibit the use of surveillance devices to record private conversations and the carrying on of activities.

Surveillance Devices

The current Surveillance Devices Act 2007 regulates the use of surveillance devices including optical and listening devices. Its general purpose is to prohibit the use of surveillance devices without a warrant or authorisation issued by a court, unless the device is being used in some limited circumstances. As it stands, the unlawful use of surveillance devices is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years imprisonment.

Background to Amendment

The NSW police force began using body-worn video devices around July 2013 as part of a limited trial conducted by the police. The trials were conducted within the existing legal framework of the Surveillance Devices Act. Following successful results, the NSW Government announced a $4 million dollar budget to fund a broader rollout of the devices and the supporting infrastructure.  

The body-worn devices operate as a modern day equivalent of a police notebook providing for contemporaneous record of observations and events in the field.  

The Amendment

The amendment will set up the legislative framework for the use of body-worn devices. The act will recognise that these forms of devices are already broadly available and widely used in the community. The Act introduces exemptions to the relevant offence provisions in the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) to allow for the overt use of body-worn video devices. However, these exemptions only operate where police use the devices in accordance with the particular requirements set out in the Act.

The Act will essentially permit officers to use the devices in the execution of their duty as long as the use is overt and a party to any private conversation which is being recorded knows they are being recorded by a police officer. The Act aims to provide a broader range of situations which police officers may encounter in their day to day duties. Consequently, not only will they be allowed to record in public places, an officer may also be able to record private conversations in private premises so long as the requirements of the Act are met.

The restrictions that currently apply to information obtained from other types of surveillance devices will generally apply to information obtained using body-worn video devices. The restrictions will prohibit the use, communication and publication of information unless necessary for a specified purpose such as the investigation of a complaint against a police officer. Further, to reflect the broader use of body-worn video as a tool for law enforcement purposes, the NSW Police Force will be able to use the information obtained for any purpose connected with the exercise of law enforcement functions such as the investigation and prosecution of crime, as well as for internal training and education of members of the NSW Police Force.

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 Surveillance Devices Amendment (Police Body-Worn Video) Act 2014 (NSW) as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne