Key facts
- Employers are using AI and technologies like CCTV and keystroke monitoring to track workers.
- A cashier received a final written warning for an error rate of 0.18% flagged by AI monitoring.
- Young employees at an unnamed fast-food chain avoided change rooms due to cameras installed to prevent phone use.
Employers are increasingly using technology, including AI, to monitor workers, a trend that the Human Technology Institute warns is accelerating. The institute's report, released on Tuesday, highlights the growing prevalence of tools such as CCTV, keystroke monitoring, and instant messaging tracking across various industries, often without employees' knowledge. Examples include cameras in fast-food change rooms to prevent phone use and an AI system flagging a cashier for an error rate of 0.18%. The institute is urging the Australian federal government to strengthen privacy protections within workplace laws, citing exemptions in the Privacy Act that allow for increased surveillance. A poll commissioned by Minderoo in March 2026 indicated that while 43% of Australians are aware of employer monitoring technologies, only 9% know if their own workplace uses them. The institute's co-director, Prof Edward Santow, emphasized the need for transparency and suggested overhauling the Fair Work Act to include a test for the appropriateness of workplace monitoring, advocating for powers to ban surveillance products posing an "unacceptable risk" to workers' rights.