Question: Our body corporate has installed CCTV cameras. Vision from all cameras is broadcast to all owners. One camera has a clear vision of inside my garage which is next to a fire exit. The garage is part of my lot. Is it legal for the Committee to broadcast this footage live, 24/7?
Answer: I’ve never heard of CCTV being broadcast to all owners’ TVs in a strata scheme.
I can’t tell you definitively if it is legal or not. That is not a body corporate query, it is a privacy-related query. You may wish to contact the Office of the Information Commissioner in the first instance.
From the body corporate side of things, there should be a record of the installation of the CCTV and the broadcast arrangements in the minutes of your body corporate meetings. I suggest taking a look back through those or doing a search to obtain them. There may be grounds to challenge those decisions, depending on how and when they were made.
Assuming you are an owner, you have a right to put motions to both the committee and to a general meeting, so if you have concerns about the CCTV you can put motions about that to those meetings. You might like to firstly discuss with your fellow owners how they feel about it. If they like the CCTV and feel secure with it, chances are you won’t have the numbers to succeed in your motion.
I will admit, I’ve never heard of CCTV being broadcast to all owners’ TVs in a strata scheme.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898