Human Technology Institute calls for stronger workplace privacy laws in Australia
The University of Technology Sydney’s Human Technology Institute warned that AI‑enabled monitoring tools are spreading across Australian workplaces, from fast‑food kitchens to retail checkout lines. Examples include CCTV that blocks phone use, keystroke logging, and an AI system that flagged a supermarket cashier for an error rate of 0.18% – roughly one mistake per 533 items scanned. A March…
Key points
- AI monitoring flagged a cashier for a 0.18% error rate, about one error per 533 scans.
- 43% of Australians aware of employer AI monitoring, only 9% aware of it in their own workplace.
- Human Technology Institute urges Fair Work Act overhaul and power to ban risky surveillance products.
The institute’s report, released on Tuesday, urges the federal government to embed privacy safeguards in the Fair Work Act and give the minister power to ban surveillance products that pose an “unacceptable risk”. It cites Microsoft Teams’ location‑auto‑update feature and concerns about smart‑glasses that could covertly record workers. The submission to the joint parliamentary AI inquiry was backed by unions such as the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, and will be discussed alongside testimony from the eSafety commissioner, CSIRO, ASIC, the Australian Medical Association and Atlassian.
Calls to strengthen workplace privacy in Australia as employers turn to AI to track staff
The Guardian AI · 19 October 2026
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