Portfolio — 20 July 2026

The Premier, Ms Allan, announced that the Victorian Government will introduce what it describes as the toughest workplace surveillance protection laws in Australia, targeting inappropriate and unfair use of artificial intelligence against workers [TA-260720-vicmed-05d158e009ba]. The package is substantive and detailed: biometric data collection will be permitted only where no less intrusive alternative exists, and using biometric data to read emotions is prohibited except for specified legitimate purposes — the ministerial media release cites fatigue monitoring for truck drivers as the paradigm case.

The laws will ban AI-powered tracking of bathroom breaks, gait, or pregnancy without a specific legitimate purpose, and will expand anti-discrimination protections covering race, gender, sexuality, religion, and other personal characteristics. Employers will be required to notify workers of any monitoring and to consult staff before introducing new surveillance systems; covert surveillance will be permitted only where unlawful activity is suspected and must operate under strict controls.

Two provisions in the package carry particular structural significance: first, any automated decision that materially affects a worker's rights must be reviewed by a human before it takes effect, removing algorithmic finality over employment outcomes; and second, workers will gain a right to access their own surveillance data where it bears on their job [TA-260720-vicmed-05d158e009ba].

The announcement is framed squarely in terms of worker rights rather than technology regulation, with the Premier's media release leading on the principle that every Victorian worker deserves to know when they are being watched. The legislative instrument has not yet been tabled, and no draft bill text or commencement timeline was provided in the release. The observations layer flags that the records do not address AI resume-ranking tools or AI bias in hiring, promotion, and pay decisions — areas that sit naturally alongside the announced measures — so the full scope of the incoming legislation remains to be confirmed when the bill is introduced.