Cameras encounter resistance – Terror in London: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Anna Hodgekiss, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 18 July 2005: 12.
Abstract
Associate professor in criminology at the University of Melbourne Adam Sutton, co-author with Monash University’s Dean Wilson of a paper on the politics of public or open-street CCTV in Australia, said Australians had been much slower to accept this as a part of daily life.
“Australia has been slow to join the surveillance revolution, and much of the CCTV resistance stems from a lack of promotion on a national level,” Professor Sutton said.
Full Text
THE blanket coverage of London by closed-circuit television, which played such an important role in rapidly identifying the bombers, is unlikely to reach Australia quickly.
While the average Londoner appears on CCTV 300 times a day, and this is widely accepted as the price for security, there is considerable resistance in Australia, according to a recent study.
Associate professor in criminology at the University of Melbourne Adam Sutton, co-author with Monash University’s Dean Wilson of a paper on the politics of public or open-street CCTV in Australia, said Australians had been much slower to accept this as a part of daily life.
For example, Sydney, with a population of more than 4million, has only 48 public CCTVs. In Melbourne, with a similar population, there are 23. In Darwin there are none, while in Canberra there are only 15.
Professor Sutton, whose paper appeared in the journal Surveillance and Society, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his predecessors had supported expanding CCTV surveillance, but there had been no such impetus in Australia.
He said support was strongest in Perth, which led the country with 135 public cameras, and Brisbane, which had 51 CCTVs.
Professor Sutton said there was social resistance to this level of surveillance, and the federal system made it difficult for the central government to dictate what local governments do.
While Britain had gone to one extreme, with cameras on every corner, Australians did not necessarily see this as appropriate or effective in preventing crime or terrorism.
“Australia has been slow to join the surveillance revolution, and much of the CCTV resistance stems from a lack of promotion on a national level,” Professor Sutton said.
“While central government often helps with set-up costs, the running of it and operating costs fall to local government.”