Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW), the Attorney General, the Honourable J W Shaw QC MLC, referred, by letter dated 2 July 1996, the following matter to the Law Reform Commission.

To inquire into and report on the following matters:
• the current scope and operation of the Listening Devices Act 1984 (NSW)
• the need to regulate the use of visual surveillance equipment, and
• any related matter.

In undertaking this review the Commission should have regard to:
• the protection of the privacy of the individual;
• the views and interests of users of surveillance technology, including law enforcement agencies, private investigators, and owners of private premises, such as banks, service stations and shops;
• the use of surveillance technology in public places.

In making this reference the Attorney draws the Commission’s attention to the Government’s proposals for the introduction of privacy and data protection legislation and to the current review of the issue of the regulation of workplace visual surveillance being conducted by the Department of Industrial Relations.

Pursuant to s12A of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 the Chairman of the Commission constituted a Division for the purpose of conducting the reference. The members of the Division are:

Mr Michael Adams QC
The Hon Jerrold Cripps QC
The Hon Justice John Dowd AO
Professor Brent Fisse
Professor John Goldring*
Professor David Weisbrot
(* denotes Commissioner-in-Charge)

Executive Director

Mr Peter Hennessy

Ms Leonie Armstrong
Ms Judy Maynard
Mrs Sally Riordan

Ms Beverley Caska

Ms Julie Freeman

Ms Helen Levendakis

Mr Peter Homel

The Commission invites submissions on the issues relevant to this review, including but not limited to the issues raised in this Issues Paper.

All submissions and inquiries should be directed to:

Mr Peter Hennessy
Executive Director
NSW Law Reform Commission
GPO Box 5199
SYDNEY NSW 2001

[DX 1227 SYDNEY]

Phone: (02) 9228 8230
Fax: (02) 9228 8225

There is no special form required for submissions. If it is inconvenient or impractical to make a written submission you may telephone the Commission and either direct your comments to a Legal Officer over the telephone, or else arrange to make your submission in person.

Closing date for submissions

The closing date for submissions is 31 July 1997. No final decisions will be made by the Commission until after the deadline for submissions has passed.

Use of submissions and confidentiality

If you would like your submission to be treated as confidential, please indicate this in your submission. Submissions made to the Commission may be used in two ways:

• Since the Commission's process of law reform is essentially public, copies of submissions made to the Commission will normally be made available on request to any person or organisation. However, if you would like all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential, please indicate this in your submission. Any request for a copy of a submission marked "confidential" will be determined in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (NSW).
• In preparing the final Report, the Commission may also find it useful to refer to and make mention of comments submitted in response to the Issues Paper. However, if a request for confidentiality is made, it will be respected by the Commission in relation to the publication of such submissions in a Report.