UTS institute urges federal overhaul to curb AI surveillance of workers

The Human Technology Institute at the University of Technology Sydney has released a report urging the federal government to amend the Fair Work Act to protect workers from automated monitoring and surveillance.

The report, titled Drawing the Line, argues that existing protections under Australian law have failed to keep pace with workplace technology. Current carve-outs in the Privacy Act 1988, which exclude employee records and exempt small businesses with annual revenue under $3 million, leave staff with limited legal protection when employers adopt tracking software.

According to research cited by the institute, only 9 per cent of Australian workers know that monitoring takes place in their own workplace, even though 43 per cent recognise that employers use AI to track staff. The technology has spread across office environments, retail, logistics and manufacturing. Common methods include keystroke logging, CCTV analysis, swipe-card logging and software tools inside workplace platforms such as Microsoft Teams, which can automatically register when a worker connects to office Wi-Fi.

The institute presented several case studies to demonstrate the real-world impact of automated performance tracking. In one example submitted to a federal inquiry by a retail union, an automated system issued a final written warning to a supermarket cashier after logging an error rate of 0.18 per cent, or roughly one mistake for every 533 scanned products. In another incident, a fast-food chain placed cameras in employee break rooms to check whether workers were looking at mobile phones.

To address these practices, the institute recommends creating a statutory test under the Fair Work Act that requires any worker surveillance to be fair and reasonable. It also proposes requiring employers to consult with workers before installing surveillance tools, giving the Fair Work Commission jurisdiction to hear employee complaints, and granting ministerial power to prohibit tools that present excessive risks to worker privacy.

What this means for Australian businesses

Many small and medium companies already use software suites that contain built-in monitoring tools, often without turning them on deliberately. Features that track user activity, check-in status or idle time are increasingly common in cloud collaboration software.

Business owners should review their current software settings and internal rules before regulatory changes arrive:

• Audit the platforms your staff use daily, including office suites, project management software and device management tools, to see what employee data is being logged automatically.
• Be open with staff about any data collection in place, explaining what is recorded, why it is recorded, and how that information is used.
• Avoid using automated software scores as the sole basis for disciplinary action or performance reviews, keeping a manager directly involved in assessing the context of any errors.
• Check state surveillance legislation, as jurisdictions such as New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory already require advance notice before employers can monitor computer use.