CCTV laws in Queensland: what your business can and can’t record.

Queensland has no single CCTV law. A business filming its own premises is generally free to do so, because the state’s surveillance legislation covers listening devices rather than cameras. The limits come from three other places: the Criminal Code, which makes it an offence to record people in bathrooms, change rooms and similar private spaces; the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971, which restricts recording conversations you are not part of; and the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, which governs what you do with the footage once you have it.

There is no Queensland CCTV Act

New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT all have surveillance devices legislation covering optical surveillance. Queensland does not. The Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 regulates listening devices only, and says nothing about cameras. The Queensland Law Reform Commission reviewed that gap and recommended a broader framework covering optical, tracking and data surveillance, and the state government has consulted on reform, but no such Act is in force. Until one is, the limits on a business camera come from several separate laws. What follows is general information rather than legal advice.

Where cameras cannot go

Section 227A of the Queensland Criminal Code makes it an offence to visually record someone, without consent, in a private place or during a private act where they would reasonably expect privacy. Maximum penalty is three years imprisonment, and the section’s examples involve communal change rooms and people being helped to use a toilet.

That rules out toilets, change rooms and fitting rooms, showers, first-aid rooms and staff locker areas. Corridors outside them are fine. The usual mistake is a wide-angle hallway camera that sees through a propped-open door, so check each camera’s real field of view once it is mounted rather than trusting the plan.

Audio is where businesses get caught

Section 43 of the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 makes it an offence to use a listening device to overhear, record, monitor or listen to a private conversation, with a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units or two years imprisonment. A private conversation is one the speakers indicate they want heard only by themselves, which covers much of what gets said across a counter or in a back office.

Queensland runs a one-party consent model, so you may record a conversation you are part of. A camera microphone captures conversations between staff, or between customers, that you were never part of.

Nearly every IP camera ships with a microphone, enabled by default at the recorder on plenty of systems. It is the most common compliance problem we find on business sites in Ipswich, and the easiest to fix. Turn audio off, play back a clip to confirm, and note the date.

Signage, and what it actually does

No Queensland law requires every business to put up a CCTV sign. The obligation, where it exists, comes from the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988: Australian Privacy Principle 5 requires covered organisations to notify people when they collect personal information, and footage of an identifiable person counts.

Whether it covers you depends mostly on size. The OAIC treats a small business as one with an annual turnover of $3 million or less, and those are generally exempt. The exemption falls away if you are a health service provider, trade in personal information, hold a Commonwealth contract, or are related to a larger covered company. The federal Privacy Act review recommended removing it, so do not rely on it permanently.

Put the signs up regardless. Signage at each entry deters the people you want deterred and makes a reasonable expectation of privacy much harder to claim, a point that has mattered more since June 2025.

The privacy tort that raised the stakes

From 10 June 2025, a statutory tort for serious invasion of privacy has been actionable in Australia, introduced by the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Cth). An individual can sue for damages, including for emotional distress, and it is not limited to organisations bound by the Australian Privacy Principles. A claimant must show a reasonable expectation of privacy, and that the invasion was serious and either intentional or reckless. A camera aimed at a neighbour’s yard, or a microphone left recording staff, is what that claim gets built on.

Watching your own staff

Queensland has no dedicated workplace surveillance Act. New South Wales and the ACT do, which is why advice written for those states reads stricter than what applies here. Employee monitoring in Queensland falls back on the Criminal Code, the listening device rules, and the Privacy Act if it covers you. That is not permission to stay quiet about it. Tell staff in writing where the cameras are and why, keep the purpose narrow, and keep cameras out of break rooms and locker areas. In a dispute, a monitoring policy you actually follow will do more for you than the camera specification.

How long to keep footage, and who sees it

For most businesses there is no legislated retention period. Keep footage long enough to be useful and no longer, which for most sites lands between 30 and 90 days. Decide that number in advance and let the system overwrite on schedule. A few habits save arguments later:

• Restrict access. Name who can log in, with individual credentials rather than a shared password.
• Log exports. Record who pulled what footage, when and why. This one earns its keep once police or insurers are involved.
• Preserve incident clips straight away. Plenty of good footage is lost because someone waited a fortnight to ask.

A customer or a neighbour has no general right to your footage. Police can request it through proper channels. If a request arrives and you are unsure, ask for it in writing and take advice first.

Licensed venues have their own rulebook

If you hold a liquor licence, read your licence conditions. The Liquor Act 1992 and Liquor Regulation 2002 require venues in the Brisbane City Council area authorised to trade past 1am to operate CCTV, and other venues to comply where it is a licence condition. Where they apply:

• Cameras at each entry and exit point, capturing patrons entering and leaving and their interactions with staff and crowd controllers
• Recording from 8pm until one hour after close, with time and date embedded
• Daily equipment checks with malfunctions recorded, and certification by an appropriately qualified person every six months
• Recordings kept at least 28 days and deleted within 30 days after that period, with incident recordings kept a further year
• Viewing restricted to the licensee, an approved manager, OLGR compliance officers and police

Operators in Brisbane CBD and Fortitude Valley get audited on this, and a system built to a general office standard will not necessarily meet it.

Who is allowed to install it

Under the Security Providers Act 1993 (Qld), alarms and CCTV cameras are security equipment, and anyone taking payment to install them must hold a security equipment installer licence from the Office of Fair Trading. That is a Class 2 licence, involving a criminal history check and fingerprinting. Check it before you sign.

The OFT runs a free online licensing register, and a legitimate installer will give you their licence number without hesitating. An unlicensed install is a compliance problem you inherit. We cover what else to ask in choosing a CCTV installer in Ipswich, and retailers should read it alongside our notes on retail loss prevention.

Frequently asked

Do I need a sign if I have CCTV at my business?

No Queensland law requires every business to sign-post its CCTV. If the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 covers your business, Australian Privacy Principle 5 requires you to notify people you are collecting their personal information, and a sign at each entry does that. Put signage up either way: it deters offenders and makes a reasonable expectation of privacy harder to claim.

Can I record audio on my security cameras in Queensland?

Usually not. Section 43 of the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld) makes it an offence to use a listening device to record or monitor a private conversation, with a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units or two years imprisonment. You may record a conversation you are a party to, but a camera microphone picking up talk between staff or customers is not one of those. Switch them off at the recorder.

Get it set up properly

We design and install CCTV and surveillance systems that are compliant by design: cameras aimed where they earn their keep, audio off unless there is a reason for it, retention set deliberately, and signage supplied. For a broader risk picture, our security consulting covers policy and placement together.

We work across Ipswich, Springfield and greater Brisbane. Request a site visit → or call 0414 829 850.

Published 28 July 2026 · Anthony Tupper, Founder · Tupper Security Services holds Queensland Security Firm Licence (Class 1) #4572076.