CCTV footage: storage, ownership and access
Benoit De Tarle v The Owners Corporation Strata Plan 576 [2022] NSWCATAP 77
In short
CCTV footage is a record of an owners corporation.
CCTV footage isn’t required to be kept for 7 years.
Suggestive that matters of access and storage of CCTV footage is a matter for an owners corporation to determine by resolution and/or in a by-law.
Background
The appeal largely concerns whether an error of law arose at first instance on a failure to have regard to certain evidence, but relevantly includes a short discussion on CCTV footage.
The first instance decision is unreported but appears to concern a lot owner seeking access to CCTV footage held by the owners corporation in the hopes of elucidating information on damage to the appellant’s vehicle allegedly caused whilst parked on the parcel.
Decision
The appeal is largely bespoke to its specific facts but the Appeal Panel makes some relevant observations in relation to CCTV footage, including that:
CCTV footage can be categorised as a record of an owners corporation;
CCTV footage is not a record of the kind specified in s 180(1)(a) or in any other provision in Part 1 Division 1, being those documents required to be kept for 7 years; and
the rights and entitlements of owners to access CCTV footage is really a matter for an owners corporation to resolve, which should have regard to other statutory provisions such as the Surveillance Devices Act 2007.