Tenants are within their rights to object to real estate agents filming inside their homes during rental inspections, a Queensland civil rights advocate says.
Two Queensland real estate agencies have recently revealed their staff are now using body-worn cameras while inspecting properties due to separate incidents where staff were endangered.
According to 360 Property Management in Mackay, an agent was locked in a house by a tenant, while Mackay City Property says an employee was threatened and pushed by a tenant during an inspection.
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Sandra Macklin from Mackay City Property said bodycams were helping staff feel “protected” during inspections.
Queensland tenancy law does not reference the taking of photos or video during rental inspections, meaning it’s not specifically prohibited.
The state’s Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) acknowledges “photos may need to be taken, especially if there are maintenance or damage issues, or evidence of a significant breach”.
But agents should not make recordings of the property that are disruptive to the “peace, comfort or privacy” of tenants.
“Property managers (and) owners must ensure that any use of photography or recording equipment is not an unreasonable interference with the tenants’ (or) residents’ reasonable peace, comfort or privacy,” an RTA spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au
“The RTA encourages property manager (and) owners to communicate openly and seek written permission in some situations if photos or videos are being taken, or body cameras are being worn, that show a tenant’s possessions, such as personal items, furniture, family photos or vehicles.
“Consider outlining the reason for taking photos/videos, how the content will be used and stored securely, and the steps you will take to protect the tenant’s privacy and respect their quiet enjoyment of the property.
“Where photos and videos are to be used for advertising purposes, the property manager/owner is required to gain written consent from the tenant and should outline where these will be published.”
Privacy laws
Michael Cope, president of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, highlighted that businesses with an annual turnover of more than $3 million were subject to federal privacy laws.
Such businesses must have the consent of the individual to collect their personal information, he said.
“Unless they’ve got their consent, they may be breaching that,” Cope said.
He also pointed to Queensland law that prohibits “observations or recordings in breach of privacy” under the Criminal Code, which has been recently introduced to combat issues such as “upskirting”.
The act makes it an offence to visually record someone “in circumstances where a reasonable adult would expect to be afforded privacy”.
“The first thing I’d be saying is, ‘I don’t consent to you turning the thing on’,” Cope said.
“They have, no doubt, exercised their right of entry in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act, but I think they’re entitled to object to them taking a video recording on the basis that it’s an invasion of their privacy.”
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