Question: Residents are illegally dumping bulk household waste on common property. We are thinking of installing CCTVs. Can we distribute images from CCTV to help identify who is dumping rubbish?
In our building, residents are illegally dumping bulk household waste on common property. To stop this, our owners corporation is planning on installing CCTV cameras in the affected areas.
While the cameras will capture images of the offender/s, we still need to determine which apartment they are from. Can we post images of the offender/s on the noticeboards and circulate photos to all residents? There’s nothing in the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 that covers this, however, we have concerns it may be a Privacy Act issue. Can we distribute images from CCTV? We’ve also thought of identifying people via key swipe information.
Answer: I have seen a defamation notice sent for less than this.
The answer is yes. It would become a Privacy Act issue as the stills would identify the individuals. I recommend against putting up photos from the CCTV for this reason. I have seen a defamation notice sent for less than this and even though if you correctly identify the person dumping the waste and therefore have a defence of truth, you’d still have to put time and effort into rebutting a defamation notice.
The second issue is that it leaves open bullying and harassment or even potential discrimination claims if the same action is not taken (and in the same manner) for every person dumping the waste. Even if the OC takes the same action for each person, it would not alleviate the OC from a claim of indirect discrimination. Essentially, the case law as to whether it applies to a strata scheme depends on the jurisdiction you are in.
The third reason is that I very much doubt your OC has either put up signs notifying people that they are on CCTV and that if caught breaching the by-laws, their picture may be displayed on the notice board or put this statement in a by-law regulating the use of CCTV footage.
Key card access is not infallible e.g. occupant A is in bin room, they leave just as occupant B arrives and holds the door open for them, occupant B never swipes in.
If this is a regular event, it may be easier to increase the waste receptacles for your scheme and put in place a by-law mentioned above. I would hope that installing signage and adding a clause to allow the use of footage would act as a deterrent, especially if notice was slipped into the letterbox of each unit before this regime started.
This post appears in the April 2023 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Allison Benson Kerin Benson Lawyers E: allison@kerinbensonlawyers.com.au P: 02 4032 7990