NEW LAWS relating to the surveillance of employees in NSW have been called into question after Centrelink was not prosecuted for blocking staff from accessing union websites and emails from their work computers
NEW LAWS relating to the surveillance of employees in NSW have been called into question after Centrelink was not prosecuted for blocking staff from accessing union websites and emails from their work computers.
The Commonwealth Government agency withdrew general staff access to the Community and Public Sector Union website while the union was promoting industrial action late last year.
“This is standard practice in these circumstances and is in line with the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct,” according to Hank Jongen, Centrelink general manager.
However, under the NSW Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 which came into effect in October 2005 and replaced the state Workplace Video Surveillance Act 1998, employers are banned from preventing staff from accessing union websites and emails from their work computers.
Centrelink claimed that, because its workers were Commonwealth employees, they were exempted from the state’s workplace laws.
Debus concluded that the Commonwealth Government needed to draft laws of its own mirroring the NSW provisions. These now cover camera, tracking and covert surveillance in addition to computer surveillance and blocking of emails/internet access.
NSW has also sought to set the standard for other states enacting workplace surveillance laws yet the incident raises questions as to whether the legislation fulfils the NSW Government’s intent of protecting all workers in the State.
The objectives of the Act include prohibiting employer surveillance of employees at work except when the employee has been notified of the existence, type and duration of the surveillance or when the surveillance is carried out under a covert surveillance authority for the purpose of establishing whether an employee is involved in any unlawful activity at work.
As more and more Australian workers use computers at work it is a criminal offence to conduct computer surveillance (CS) without a CS policy.
“Centrelink has well-established policies regarding the use of electronic facilities, which are provided to staff for legitimate Centrelink business,” Jongen said.
“All staff are aware of these policies and their obligations and agree to them each time they access Centrelink’s email facilities.”
They would also block access to the Combined Public Sector Union website again if necessary.
“Centrelink’s policies clearly state the use of our electronic facilities for the promotion of a political industrial campaign is prohibited, and we would again consider restricting access to a website if a similar situation arose in the future,” Jongen said.
At the time, Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) assistant national secretary, Stephen Jones, accused Centrelink and the Government of “blatant hypocrisy” and said Centrelink should be prosecuted for breaking the law.
“They claim their approach to workplace bargaining is all about choice yet they are preventing Centrelink workers getting the information they need to make an informed choice,” he said.
“Centrelink workers feel insulted and incensed by management’s sledgehammer approach.”
