QLD: Is filming someone in a body corporate common area legal?

Question: Is it illegal in Queensland to video or photograph persons in body corporate common areas?

I am on our body corporate committee. Our chairperson has lodged a complaint alleging that our caretaker’s employee recorded or photographed him on common property.

Is it legal in Queensland to video or photograph persons in public areas such as a body corporate’s common property?

Answer: There is no general prohibition on filming in public areas, but recording someone in a private place is an offence.

The body corporate legislation is silent as regards videoing and/or photography of persons while on common property. Furthermore, there is no general law in Queensland that prohibits videoing and/or photography of persons in public areas, despite it being generally annoying, intrusive and provocative.

However, there is legislation relating to visual recording of another person in a private place or during a private act. For example, it is an offence to observe or visually record another person in a private place without consent and in circumstances where a reasonable adult would expect to be afforded privacy (section 227A(1) of the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld)). ‘Private place’ is defined to mean a place where a person might reasonably be expected to be engaging in a private act (showering, bathing, using a toilet, another activity in which a person is in a state of undress, or intimate sexual activity that is not ordinarily done in public). Videoing a person while they are on common property and not engaging in a private act (such as simply traversing the scheme land) would generally not amount to an offence under this legislation.

Additionally, there is also legislation in Queensland that stipulates that a person is not permitted to record private conversations that they are not involved in (section 43 of the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld)), which is becoming an issue for security cameras facing public areas (walkways and corridors).

This post appears in Strata News #806.

Alanna Law
Mathews Hunt Legal
E: alanna.law@mathewshuntlegal.com.au
P: 07 5555 8000