Moving into a shared or group home does not mean giving up the right to privacy. Participants should still have control over their personal information, private space, belongings and how personal support is delivered.
Providers must balance safety with each resident’s dignity, choices and independence. A general reference to safety does not automatically justify entering private spaces, sharing personal information or installing surveillance equipment.
This guide explains how privacy applies in NDIS group homes, what must be considered before CCTV is used and what participants can do when their privacy is not respected.
This article provides general information only. Privacy and surveillance laws differ between states and territories, so legal advice may be required for a specific situation.
Privacy Protections Continue Inside a Shared Home
The NDIS Code of Conduct requires providers and workers to respect the privacy of people with disability. The NDIS Practice Standards also require registered providers to protect each participant’s privacy and dignity.
Other laws may apply depending on the provider, location and type of information involved. These can include the federal Privacy Act, state or territory privacy and health-records laws, and surveillance-device legislation. Privacy in a group home covers two connected areas.
Personal information
Participants should be told what information is collected, why it is needed, how it will be used and who may receive it. This includes:
- Health and support information
- Contact and identification details
- Behaviour support information
- Photographs, video and audio recordings
- Information about relationships and family
- Daily support and incident records
Information should only be accessed or shared for an appropriate purpose and in accordance with consent and applicable legal requirements.
Personal space and daily support
Privacy also applies to how workers enter bedrooms, assist with personal care and discuss sensitive matters. Support should protect the participant’s dignity during:
- Showering
- Dressing
- Toileting and continence care
- Medical or personal conversations
- Phone calls and visits
- Time spent in a bedroom or another private area
Living with other residents does not remove the right to knock, ask permission and provide personal support discreetly.
Privacy and Dignity During Daily Support
Workers should explain what they are going to do before providing personal assistance. They should also respect the participant’s preferred communication method and provide time for the person to respond. Good privacy practices include:
- Knocking before entering a bedroom
- Closing doors or curtains during personal care
- Asking permission before touching the participant or their belongings
- Holding private conversations where other residents cannot overhear
- Sharing information only with authorised people
- Respecting the participant’s relationships and visitors
- Providing support without unnecessary exposure or embarrassment
There may be situations where immediate action is required to prevent serious harm. However, safety concerns should not become a routine reason to disregard privacy.
Leaving a door open during personal care or discussing confidential information within earshot of other residents may breach the provider’s privacy and dignity obligations.
CCTV Requires More Than a General Safety Reason
Installing CCTV in an NDIS group home is not automatically acceptable because the provider or a family member believes it will improve safety. Before surveillance is introduced, the provider must consider:
- The specific reason for using it
- Whether less intrusive options are available
- The wishes and preferences of each affected resident
- How valid consent will be obtained
- Which areas will be recorded
- Whether audio will also be captured
- Who can view the footage
- How recordings will be secured
- How long recordings will be retained
- When the arrangement will be reviewed
- Which federal, state or territory laws apply
A shared space is still part of each resident’s home. Placing a camera in a lounge, kitchen or hallway can affect several residents, workers and visitors. Consent from one person does not remove the privacy rights of everyone else who may be recorded.
Cameras in Bedrooms and Bathrooms Create Serious Privacy Risks
Bedrooms, bathrooms and personal-care areas carry a much stronger expectation of privacy than shared household spaces.
CCTV in these areas is highly intrusive and may breach privacy, surveillance or criminal laws. The legal position depends on the location, what is recorded, whether audio is captured, who installed the device and whether valid consent exists.
A participant’s disability does not by itself justify monitoring them in a private space. Before any surveillance is considered, the provider should examine less intrusive ways of addressing the identified risk. Examples may include:
- A call button
- A wearable alert
- A movement or door sensor
- Changes to worker response arrangements
- Assistive technology selected with the participant
- Adjustments to the physical environment
Even these alternatives can affect privacy and may require consent, assessment or restrictive-practice approval depending on their purpose and effect.
Surveillance Can Become a Restrictive Practice
Surveillance technology is not automatically a regulated restrictive practice. The way it is used determines whether restrictive-practice requirements apply. It may become part of a regulated restrictive practice when it is used to:
- Stop a participant from leaving a room
- Prevent access to food or personal belongings
- Restrict access to part of the home
- Control where the participant can go
- Influence behaviour by limiting freedom of movement
For example, a sensor that alerts a worker so they can offer assistance to a participant at risk of falling may support independence without restricting movement.
A sensor used to alert workers so they can stop a participant opening the refrigerator or leaving their bedroom may facilitate environmental restraint or seclusion.
When surveillance facilitates a regulated restrictive practice, it must be included in the appropriate behaviour support arrangements and authorised under the relevant state or territory requirements. Using it without the required authorisation can constitute an unauthorised restrictive practice.
Consent Must Be Informed and Freely Given
Consent involves more than telling a participant that a camera has been installed. The person should receive accessible information explaining:
- What technology will be used
- What it records
- Why it is considered necessary
- When monitoring will occur
- Who can access the information
- Whether recordings will be shared
- How consent can be withdrawn
- What alternatives have been considered
Information may need to be provided through Easy Read material, an interpreter, communication technology or another form the participant understands.
Questions about decision-making capacity and substitute consent can be legally complex. Providers should not assume that a family member can authorise surveillance in every situation.
Protecting Recorded Footage and Personal Information
Installing surveillance equipment creates further responsibilities because video, audio and location data may contain personal or sensitive information. A provider should have clear controls covering:
- Secure storage
- Authorised access
- Password and device security
- Retention and deletion periods
- Requests to view recordings
- Sharing footage with third parties
- Responding to a privacy or data breach
- Recording when footage has been accessed
Footage should not be viewed out of curiosity, shared informally or used for a purpose unrelated to the reason it was collected.
Providers must also consider the privacy of housemates, workers, visiting health professionals, family members and other visitors who may be recorded.
Strong Support Practices Matter More Than Cameras Alone
Surveillance cannot replace suitable staffing, worker training, supervision or a culture in which participants feel safe raising concerns.
Cameras may record an incident after it occurs, but they do not automatically prevent neglect, abuse or poor-quality support. They can also create a false sense of safety when nobody is monitoring alerts properly or responding when help is needed.
A safer group home is built through:
- Careful worker recruitment and screening
- Participant-specific training
- Clear professional boundaries
- Reliable supervision
- Consistent incident reporting
- Accessible complaints processes
- Respectful communication with residents
- Timely responses when concerns are raised
Technology should only support these safeguards where it has a clear, lawful and proportionate purpose.
Raising a Privacy Concern Without Delaying Action
A participant does not have to raise a privacy concern with the provider first if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable doing so. However, less serious concerns can often be addressed quickly through the provider’s complaints process. Useful steps may include:
- Record what happened, including dates and locations
- Keep relevant emails, messages or photographs
- Ask what information or footage was collected
- Request a copy of the provider’s privacy or surveillance policy
- Speak with a trusted family member, advocate or support coordinator
- Make a written complaint to the provider
- Contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Contact the appropriate privacy regulator when personal information is involved
- Seek legal advice about possible surveillance-law breaches
Call 000 when there is an immediate risk of harm. Suspected criminal conduct can also be reported to the police.
Making a complaint should not result in punishment, reduced support or other unfair treatment.
Comparing Privacy Practices Before Choosing a Home
Privacy should be discussed before a participant moves into a shared home. Families comparing SIL housing in Melbourne can ask providers:
- How do workers protect privacy during personal care?
- Are bedrooms treated as private spaces?
- Can workers enter without permission?
- Is CCTV or other monitoring technology used?
- Where are cameras or sensors located?
- Is audio recorded?
- How is consent obtained from every affected resident?
- Who can access recordings?
- How are visitors informed?
- How can a participant make a confidential complaint?
Clear answers help participants compare more than the property itself. They also show how the provider approaches dignity, choice and control in everyday support.
Privacy and Dignity in Carevally Group Homes
Carevally recognises that a shared living arrangement is still each participant’s home. Privacy should be reflected in everyday worker conduct, support planning, information handling and communication with residents.
Before support begins, participants and their representatives should receive clear information about:
- How personal information is collected and used
- How privacy is protected during personal care
- When workers may enter private spaces
- How concerns and complaints can be raised
- Whether surveillance technology is used in the home
- How consent and individual preferences are recorded
If you are considering a Carevally group home or have concerns about privacy in your current support arrangement, contact our team to discuss your needs and expectations.
