Big Brother at Work – Workplace Surveillance and Employee Privacy in Australia

Abstract

Increased surveillance of employees accompanying the move to work-from-home during the pandemic and other socio-technological developments have amplified long-standing concerns that employee tracking, electronic performance measurement and other forms of workplace surveillance are becoming both more common and more intrusive. This article analyses developments in this area since the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s ground-breaking 2005 report on workplace privacy. It examines the current state of Australian law, before considering the case for reform. This article calls for comprehensive national workplace surveillance legislation, based on empirical research into post-pandemic surveillance practices and expectations of privacy on the part of employees, to create stronger and more coherent legal protections for employee privacy in Australia.

Keywords: Privacy; employee privacy; Australian law; data protection; workplace surveillance

JEL Classification: K29; K31, K 39