June 1, 2023
A full audit of the Department of Defence surveillance devices across its sites has uncovered 435 Chinese-made devices "of concern".
The audit, ordered by Defence Minister Richard Marles in February, was sparked by concerns device data could be accessed by third parties in the country's highest security buildings.
Deputy secretary Celia Perkins said the audit had uncovered many more devices than were registered, and included the 435 devices made by "manufacturers of concern".
Liberal senator James Paterson asked why he had been told there was one device across sites in a response from the department while media reported there were 41 devices.
Ms Perkins said the full figure had been revealed only after the comprehensive search ordered by Mr Marles.
"We removed as many as them as we could immediately, sometimes they were in locations where we needed specialist equipment to get to them," Ms Perkins said.
"And in some cases, we needed to leave them on for work health and safety or other reasons.
"We are now working through a process of getting to complete removal of devices and we are on track to have that completed by the 30th of June."
Several Chinese-manufactured surveillance camera brands, including Hikvision and Dahua, were banned in government buildings across the United States and the United Kingdom in 2022 on national security grounds following fears the data could be accessed by the Chinese government.
The issue received a flurry of media attention in Australia after Senator Paterson placed questions on notice with a number of federal agencies about the number of Chinese-made surveillance cameras they had on premises.
More than 1000 have now been found across federal public service buildings and electorate offices in Australia.
The Defence Department had previously identified 41 systems across 17 sites in November and December 2022 following US and UK media reports.
Ms Perkins said some of the devices within the Department of Defence were found in low-security areas, such as daycare centres.
"The estate is a vast and complex thing and the full physical audit was was difficult to undertake," she said.
"We took the direction from the Deputy Prime Minister seriously to look in lots of places we perhaps hadn't before and when you think about the estate, it's not just office buildings and aircraft, control towers, but daycare centres and homes.
"And as we looked at shops and coffee points, we've had the opportunity now to both record much better set of data and start in that really vast swath of places a replacement program so by the 30th of June, the number [of devices of concern] will be zero."
The Defence Department began removing the Chinese-linked surveillance cameras from military bases and buildings as far back as 2018 following security advice.
