The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said that the decision needs an urgent revision, noting that body-worn police cameras often contain critical evidence that is needed for civil litigation matters “to allow courts to make decisions and determine damages”. 

“The law needs urgent revision to allow for disclosure of body-worn camera footage in civil matters. This will impact a wide range of civil cases from traffic accidents to issues of police behaviour and other abuses of power,” said Victorian president Jeremy King. 

ALA’s Mr King said there are no current specific provisions in the Surveillance Devices Act for the footage to be handed over in civil proceedings and if courts are able to have access to this video evidence, “it will lead to better and fairer legal outcomes”. 

Body-worn police cameras were introduced by the Victorian government in 2017 amid confusion around the laws dealing with their use. ALA reported that disclosing footage and storing it for future use remain unclear and difficult to negotiate. 

“The fact that police officers cannot be compelled to release footage from a body-worn camera in civil proceedings completely undermines potential benefit. The community is supposed to have faith that police will be held to account by objective video evidence that monitors their ever-increasing interactions with the public,” Mr King said. 

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“At the same time, the government has given that organisation almost absolute control over the footage.”