Big Brother has been watching, but should he be listening?

With increasing community concern about security and public safety, the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) by councils across Australia has increased over the past decade with little fanfare. That is, until one Queensland Council attached listening devices to around a third of the city's cameras, sparking public debate about privacy and the legality of the audio component.

Most major cities have sophisticated CCTV or security camera systems. Cameras are typically placed in busy, high-traffic areas or tourism hotspots and are usually monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by licensed operators from a central control room.

McCullough Robertson Partner, Alex Hutchens, says the legal aspects of audio-enabled security cameras are complicated.