I'd recommend that folks take a close look at the text of the law
before reacting any further.

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/NSWBills.nsf/0/941266A03EB10718CA256FF600242EDB

The law is pretty explicit in saying that covert surveillance is what
is being prohibited. If the employer puts its employees on notice that
they will be surveilled and that they conduct the surveillance within
some fairly reasonable guidelines, there are no real issues.

The law does not prevent the employer from looking at email, so long as
notice has been given. There is an interesting proviso in there about
employees working from home, however. The employer is much more
restricted in what they can surveil -- mainly company provided or paid
for equipment (which opens a real can of worms when the employee is
being reimbursed for use of personally-owned equipment (such as a
Blackberry).

Also, the law in question is applicable in New South Wales.

I'm sure that our Australian members will jump in on this when they get
up in a few hours.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

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