Australian Defence Department Removes Chinese-made Security Cameras

The Australian Defence Department will remove surveillance cameras made by Chinese Communist Party-linked companies from its buildings, the government announced Thursday, following similar moves by the United States and the United Kingdom.

According to the Australian newspaper, at least 913 cameras, intercoms, electronic entry systems and video recorders developed and manufactured by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are in Australian government and agency offices, including the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Hikvision and Dahua are owned in part by China's Communist Party-controlled government.

To protect the nation's communications network, the US government announced in November that it would prohibit telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several prominent Chinese brands, including Hikvision and Dahua.

Hikvision security cameras were also banned from British government buildings in November.

Defence Minister Richard Marles stated that his department is evaluating all surveillance technology.

“Wherever those particular cameras are discovered, they will be removed,” Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“There is a problem here and we will deal with it,” Marles added.

An audit discovered Hikvision and Dahua cameras and security equipment in almost every department except the Agriculture Department and the Prime Minister and Cabinet Department.

According to ABC, the Chinese cameras discovered at the Australian War Memorial and the National Disability Insurance Agency will be removed.

Opposition cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson said he prompted the audit by questioning each federal agency for six months after the Home Affairs Department refused to say how many cameras, access control systems and intercoms were installed in government buildings.

“We urgently require a plan from the government to remove all of these devices from Australian government departments and agencies,” Paterson said.

According to him, both companies were subject to China's National Intelligence Law, which requires them to collaborate with Chinese intelligence agencies.

“We'd have no way of knowing if the sensitive information, images, and audio collected by these devices were being secretly sent back to China against the interests of Australian citizens,” Paterson said.