SUBMISSION

Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General: Civil surveillance reforms consultation

This submission highlights the use of surveillance devices to perpetrate technology-facilitated abuse and the potential complexities of legal provisions in Queensland civil surveillance legislation for victims and survivors.  

This submission was provided to the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General (the Department) to inform their consultation on civil surveillance reforms. ANROWS commended the Department on their recognition of the intersection between domestic and family violence (DFV) and the use of civil surveillance technologies.

ANROWS’s submission highlighted additional areas for consideration in this reform to ensure that the needs of victims and survivors are reflected in legislation.

ANROWS made the following recommendations:

• Civil surveillance legislative reform must consider the potential for unorthodox surveillance devices to be used to perpetrate technology-facilitated abuse (TFA).
• Civil surveillance legislative reform must consider the potential for common devices to be misused as surveillance devices to perpetrate TFA.
• Consider clarifying the “protection of lawful interests” exception to ensure that victims and survivors who use a surveillance device to record coercive controlling behaviour that causes fear for their safety or who record admissions from perpetrators are not penalised.

 

 

 

Suggested citation

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2023). Re: Civil surveillance reforms consultation [Submission]. ANROWS.