Most CCTV legal questions come down to three things: can my cameras see next door, can they record sound, and can I post the footage if something happens? In WA the answers are more specific than most people expect, and plenty of what turns up online was written for another state.

This guide goes straight to the source, the Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA), with section numbers so you can check anything we say. We are a licensed security installer, not a law firm, so treat this as general information rather than legal advice for your situation.

The Short Version

The Law That Applies in WA

Home and business cameras in WA are governed mainly by the Surveillance Devices Act 1998. It regulates three kinds of device: listening devices (private conversations), optical surveillance devices (private activities) and tracking devices.

Any CCTV camera is an optical surveillance device. A camera with a built-in microphone is a listening device as well, because the Act treats a device as every type of device it is capable of acting as (section 3(2)). Owning one is not the offence. How it is used is what matters.

The three offences this guide deals with, section 5 (audio), section 6 (video) and section 9 (sharing), carry the same maximum penalty: $5,000 or 12 months' imprisonment, or both, for an individual, and $50,000 for a company.

The audio and video offences are not limited to whoever watches the footage. They also cover installing or maintaining a device, or causing one to be installed, to record private activities or conversations. Where a camera points, and whether its microphone records, is an installer's problem as much as an owner's.

What about the Privacy Act? The federal Privacy Act 1988 does not cover a security camera run by an individual in a private capacity. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says so directly. It does cover businesses turning over more than $3 million a year, plus some smaller ones. More on businesses below.

Can My Cameras See Next Door?

The Act does not contain a “don't film past your fence” rule. The test is whether the camera captures a private activity, which section 3 defines as an activity carried on in circumstances suggesting the people involved want it seen only by themselves, but not an activity where they ought reasonably to expect they might be seen.

Section 6 makes it an offence to use a camera to record or observe a private activity you are not part of. Visually recording a private activity you are part of is restricted too: it needs the consent of everyone taking part, or the consent of one of them plus the recording being reasonably necessary to protect that person's lawful interests. Consent can be express or implied.

In practice:

There is an exception for the unintentional recording or observation of a private activity (section 6(2)(e)). But once you have seen your neighbour's pool on your own screen and left the camera where it is, calling it unintentional gets much harder. The fix is easy: re-aim the camera, or use privacy masking to black out that part of the image. The Dahua cameras we install support privacy masking.

Cameras Inside Your Home

The same test applies indoors. If anyone else lives or works in your home, such as a housemate, a cleaner, a nanny or a carer, the simplest protection is to tell them, ideally in writing, where the indoor cameras are. Never put a camera in a bathroom, a toilet or a bedroom someone else uses.

The Act does contain a narrow provision for someone responsible for a child: they can record a conversation or activity the child is part of, on the child's behalf, where there are reasonable grounds to believe it will protect the child's best interests and is in the public interest (sections 26(3) and 27(3)). That is judged on the facts. It is not a blanket nanny-cam permission.

Can My CCTV Record Audio?

Most cameras with two-way talk have a built-in microphone, including the deterrent cameras we install. That makes the camera a listening device, and section 5 is stricter than the video rules in one important way.

It is an offence to use a listening device to:

That second point surprises people. In WA, being in the conversation does not, on its own, make it lawful to record it.

A private conversation is defined the same way as a private activity: it is private if the circumstances suggest the people talking want only themselves to hear it, but not if they ought reasonably to expect to be overheard. Someone yelling across the street is not having a private conversation. Two people talking quietly on the footpath, or your neighbours chatting in their own backyard, may well be.

The audio exception is worded differently from the video one, too. Section 6(2)(e) covers the unintentional recording of a private activity; section 5(2)(e) only mentions the unintentional hearing of a private conversation. Either way, a microphone left recording around the clock is a poor candidate for “unintentional”.

Two-Way Talk Is Not the Problem. Recording Is.

Talking to someone at your door through the camera makes you part of that conversation, and listening live to a conversation you are part of is not what section 5 prohibits. The risky parts are recording those conversations, and silently listening in on other people's.

Our recommendation: unless you have a specific reason to record sound, leave audio recording off. On the Dahua gear we install, audio is set per camera, at the camera and at the recorder, so recording sound is a deliberate choice rather than a default you are stuck with. Video doorbells usually have microphones too, so check their audio settings as well.

If you do want audio somewhere specific, such as a front door or a shop counter, tell people. A clear sign saying audio is recorded is not a guaranteed defence, but it speaks directly to the two things the Act turns on: consent, and whether people could expect to be overheard.

Can I Share or Post the Footage?

Section 9 makes it an offence to knowingly publish or communicate a recording of a private conversation or private activity that came from a listening or optical surveillance device. The exceptions that matter most for homeowners are:

Section 9(3) then adds a condition: those exceptions only protect you if the sharing is no more than reasonably necessary, or goes to someone with a genuine interest in it. Police, your insurer, the neighbour whose car was broken into: that is the kind of sharing the Act makes room for. A public post to a few thousand people in a local community group is much harder to square with “no more than reasonably necessary”.

If a clip only shows something that is not private, say a person walking along the street, section 9 may not apply at all. Two other laws still do:

The Better Path

Neighbour Disputes: Both Sides of the Fence

Even if nobody is ever prosecuted, a camera pointed into a neighbour's private space now carries another risk. Since 10 June 2025, the Privacy Act has included a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, and unlike the Australian Privacy Principles, it applies to private individuals.

A neighbour can take you to court for intruding on their seclusion, for example by recording their private activities. They would need to show they had a reasonable expectation of privacy, that the invasion was intentional or reckless, that it was serious, and that the public interest in their privacy outweighs any competing public interest. It is a court claim (the OAIC does not run it), and claims generally have to be started within a year of the person becoming aware of the invasion, and no later than three years after it happened.

If you are on the other side of this and a neighbour's camera looks into your backyard, the OAIC's advice runs like this:

  1. Talk to them first. The owner may simply not have looked at what the camera covers, and a re-aim or privacy mask can fix it.
  2. Try mediation. For WA, the OAIC points to Legal Aid WA (1300 650 579).
  3. Contact police if you are concerned about your safety.
  4. Check the strata by-laws if you are in a strata complex, to see whether they cover security cameras.

Renting, or in a Strata Complex?

Tenants: hard-wired security cameras are on WA's list of minor modifications. You need the landlord's permission first, using Form 26. The landlord has 14 days to respond, and can only refuse without the Commissioner for Consumer Protection's approval for limited reasons: a law or strata rule preventing it, asbestos, or heritage listing. If they do not respond within 14 days, you can generally treat the request as approved.

The landlord can require a qualified tradesperson for hard-wired cameras and ask for any security codes. Other conditions need the Commissioner's approval, and Consumer Protection gives the placement and direction of security cameras as an example. You pay for the work, maintain it, and remove it and make good at the end of the tenancy unless the landlord agrees to keep it.

Family violence: tenants can install security cameras and alarms to prevent family violence without the landlord's approval. You must tell the landlord in writing before the work is done, use a suitable tradesperson, and give the landlord a copy of the invoice within 14 days. If you need support, 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) is available any time.

Strata: check the by-laws before installing. A strata rule can also be a valid reason for a landlord to refuse a tenant's request.

Businesses: WA Is Not NSW

If you have read workplace-camera advice online, check which state it was written for. NSW (Workplace Surveillance Act 2005) and the ACT (Workplace Privacy Act 2011) have dedicated workplace surveillance laws with notice periods and signage rules. WA does not have an equivalent, so there is no WA version of the NSW statutory 14-day notice.

That does not mean anything goes:

Even where it is not strictly required, a written camera policy for staff and clear signs at entrances are cheap insurance. If you are applying for the WA small business CCTV rebate, signs at every entrance and written notice to staff are conditions of it. See the WA small business CCTV rebate guide.

How We Set Cameras Up

When we install a system, we can check each camera's view with you on the recorder, set privacy masking wherever a view crosses into a neighbour's private space, and set audio to suit how you will actually use it.

If you are comparing quotes, ask every installer the same three questions:

Our guide to reading a CCTV quote covers the rest of what to check. When you are ready, see our CCTV installation page, browse the cameras and recorders we install, or build your system online.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it legal for my CCTV to see my neighbour's property in WA?

WA's Surveillance Devices Act 1998 is built around private activities, not property boundaries. Capturing the street, or a neighbour's front yard in plain public view, is generally not the issue. Recording or observing activity in a neighbour's backyard, pool area or through their windows without consent can be an offence under section 6, so re-aim the camera or use privacy masking.

Can my security camera record audio in WA?

A camera with a microphone is a listening device under the Act. Recording, monitoring or listening to a private conversation you are not part of is an offence, and so is recording one you are part of unless everyone taking part consents or it is reasonably necessary to protect your lawful interests (section 5). Unless you have a specific reason, keep audio recording off.

Can I post CCTV footage on Facebook in WA?

Section 9 restricts publishing recordings of private conversations or activities, and its exceptions only cover sharing that is no more than reasonably necessary or goes to someone with a genuine interest, such as police. Even footage that shows nothing private can raise defamation and federal doxxing issues if you name or target someone. Give footage of a crime to WA Police on 131 444 or online.

Do I need a CCTV sign at my house in WA?

The Surveillance Devices Act does not require signs on a private home. A clear sign is still worth having: consent under the Act can be implied, and a sign tells visitors they are being recorded before they walk in. Businesses covered by the Privacy Act must tell people they may be recorded before they are recorded.

Does the Privacy Act apply to my home security cameras?

The OAIC says the Privacy Act does not cover a security camera run by an individual in a private capacity. WA's Surveillance Devices Act still applies, and since 10 June 2025 individuals can be sued under the statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy.

Can my neighbour have a camera pointed at my backyard?

In WA it depends on what the camera records, not on where it is aimed. There is no rule against a camera seeing past a fence. The test under the Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA) is whether it captures a private activity, and a backyard, courtyard or pool area is exactly where that risk sits, because section 6 makes it an offence to record or observe a private activity you are not part of. Talk to them first, since most of these are thoughtless rather than deliberate. If that does not resolve it, the OAIC points WA residents to Legal Aid WA's mediation service (1300 650 579). Contact police if you are concerned about your safety, and check the strata by-laws if you are in a strata complex.

Sources

General information about WA law, checked September 2026, written by a licensed security installer, not a lawyer. Laws change, so check the current version of the Act before relying on anything here. For advice on your situation, Legal Aid WA (1300 650 579) is a good starting point.

For the figures behind why people install cameras, and how cameras compare with alarms, see Perth burglary statistics and what actually stops a break-in.