Individual privacy may be compromised by security camera footage taken by local councils, an audit of five Victorian councils has found.
Auditor-General Andrew Greaves looked into the 1100 CCTV cameras used by five councils, including the City of Melbourne.
In his report tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, he found the councils were using surveillance technology legitimately, but their systems needed to be managed better to comply with privacy laws and protect people's right to privacy.
"The councils we examined in this audit could not demonstrate that they are consistently meeting their commitments to the community to ensure the protection of private information collected through CCTV systems," he said.
The councils advised they had no incidents of inappropriate use of surveillance systems or footage. The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner also had no such complaints.
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But Mr Greaves said weaknesses his probe uncovered "doesn't provide strong assurance that no such incidents have occurred".
Gaps in CCTV signage and management means the councils cannot show their filming activities comply with privacy laws and the information they collect is adequately protected.
"Surveillance systems in public places impact on the privacy of individuals, so it is important that councils can demonstrate to their communities that they are managing these systems well and in compliance with privacy requirements," Mr Greaves said.
"If councils cannot demonstrate this, they risk losing public confidence."
Mr Greaves, who made 11 recommendations, said improving security controls will enable councils to better ensure use of the systems is appropriate and the surveillance collected in public places is protected from unauthorised disclosure.
The councils audited were the City of Melbourne, Whitehorse, Hume, East Gippsland and Horsham.
