New South Wales Consolidated Acts

WORKPLACE SURVEILLANCE ACT 2005 - SECT 29

29 Duration and conditions of covert surveillance authority

(1) A covert surveillance authority, unless sooner cancelled, remains in force for the period (not exceeding 30 days or such other period as may be prescribed by the regulations) specified in the authority.

(2) A covert surveillance authority is subject to the following conditions:

(a) except as provided by paragraph (b), a surveillance supervisor for the authority and any of his or her supervisees must not give any other person access to any surveillance record made as a consequence of the covert surveillance,

(b) a surveillance supervisor for the authority and any of his or her supervisees may supply the employer, or employer’s representative, only with any portions of a surveillance record made as a consequence of the covert surveillance that are relevant to establishing the involvement of any employee in an unlawful activity while at work for the employer in accordance with the authority conferred by the authority or for identifying or detecting any other unlawful activity at a workplace of the employer or of an employee while at work for the employer,

(c) a surveillance supervisor for the authority must erase or destroy (or cause a supervisee to erase or destroy) within 3 months of the expiry of the authority all parts of surveillance records made by the surveillance supervisor or his or her supervisees as a consequence of the covert surveillance that are not required for evidentiary purposes,

(d) if, as a consequence of the carrying out of covert surveillance of an employee, the employer or employer’s representative takes, or proposes to take, any detrimental action against the employee, the employer or employer’s representative must, within a reasonable period after being requested to do so by the employee (or his or her Australian legal practitioner), give the employee (and his or her Australian legal practitioner, if any) access to any part of the surveillance record supplied to the employer or employer’s representative that relates to the employee or the detrimental action,

(e) such other conditions as are prescribed by the regulations or specified in the authority.

(3) In this section:
"detrimental action" means action causing, comprising or involving any of the following:

(a) discrimination, disadvantage or adverse treatment in relation to employment,

(b) dismissal from, or prejudice in, employment,

(c) a disciplinary proceeding.

"supervisee", in relation to a surveillance supervisor, means any person conducting covert surveillance under the oversight of the surveillance supervisor.