What is optical surveillance?
The CSA may use private surveillance providers to conduct covert optical surveillance in a limited number of serious cases where there is a suspicion a customer has committed an offence under child support legislation. This type of investigation is not new to the Australian Government, with agencies such as Centrelink also conducting surveillance operations to investigate fraud and other offences against Commonwealth legislation. The CSA will work within guidelines published by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission for the use of optical surveillance by government agencies.
