NSW private conversation

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Tripe

Well-Known Member
22 May 2017
229
14
619
Does a private conversation for the purposes of the listening devices act, need to be two people ? or could it be one person?

For example, a tradesman working by himself in a private building, hits his finger with a hammer and he starts swearing and screaming, but unknown to the tradesman another person starts taping the incident and sends it to some mates for a laugh.

Would the above incident be a private conversation and not be able to be recorded by the listening device act or similar
 

Rod

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
27 May 2014
7,731
1,056
2,894
www.hutchinsonlegal.com.au
There is no private conversation. A private conversation needs two or more people.

I do not know if the recording offends another section of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW)
 

Tripe

Well-Known Member
22 May 2017
229
14
619
Thanks Rod


That’s was my thinking as well, but gets tricky as the privacy act in my rough opinion does not seem to cover audio when being filmed
 

Scruff

Well-Known Member
25 July 2018
902
133
2,389
NSW
Just to expand on Rod's anwer, the reason is the definition of "private conversation" in the Act itself, which includes the words "...any words spoken by one person to another person or to other persons...".

The example given is interesting though, because of the way it is decribed: "...working by himself in a private building" - depending on the circumstances, the Surveillance Devices Act could apply in regard to video.