Body Corporate Security Systems Brisbane

For committees, strata managers and building managers who have to get the decision made, funded and handed on

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Nobody at a Brisbane scheme personally owns the front gate, the driveway or the lobby wall. In Queensland, common property is owned by all the lot owners as tenants in common, in shares set by their lot entitlements. So a camera or a reader fixed to common property is not one resident’s purchase; every owner holds a share of what it is attached to. That moves the first question off what the system does and onto who can authorise it, who funds it, and who administers it afterwards. Access Alarms works with strata managers, body corporate committees and building managers, provides training and ongoing support once a system is in, and has traded from an Eagle Farm office since 2006. Talk to us before the next budget is set.

Because the front gate, the driveway and the lobby wall belong to every owner in shares set by their lot entitlements, the first question on a scheme security project is not what the system does. It is where the equipment lands – inside a lot, or on common property – because that determines whose decision it is. Three more follow from it: who can authorise the work, how it gets into the budget cycle, and who is administering it once this committee is replaced at the next annual general meeting. This page is about those four questions. It sets out what to check and who to ask, and it deliberately does not tell any scheme what its own answer is.

Why Body Corporate Security Systems Matter in Brisbane

A security project in a Queensland scheme is rarely stopped by the technology. It is stopped by the decision, and the decision behaves differently here because of who owns the property the equipment attaches to.

Start with who decides. A committee decision is a decision of the body corporate, except on what the legislation calls a restricted issue for the committee, and the committee must act reasonably in making it. The committee's procedures and powers, though, are stated in the regulation module that applies to the scheme rather than in the Act itself. Queensland Government guidance then sets out an approval framework for improvements to common property in which the approval required depends on the cost of the work relative to the number of lots and on which module the scheme is registered under, with different rules again under the Commercial Module. Two Brisbane buildings that look identical from the street can sit under different modules. That is why this page will not tell you what your own project needs, and why no supplier should. Confirm the scheme's regulation module and its current committee spending limit with the body corporate manager, ask whether the work is treated as an improvement to common property, and get that answer before a quote reaches a meeting rather than after. The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management runs a free information service, publications and a dispute resolution process, on freecall 1800 060 119. Anything past that belongs with the scheme's own legal advice.
Then the money, which moves on a fixed cycle. A body corporate must have an administrative fund and a sinking fund with budgets prepared for both every financial year, the committee prepares those budgets for owners to consider at each annual general meeting, and what each owner pays in levies depends on the budgets the body corporate sets. Timing is therefore the real constraint on a security project, not the shortlist. A system is also not one number: there is the installation, and then the recurring part - monitoring, servicing and, where footage is retained, storage. A proposal that separates the up-front cost from the ongoing annual cost is one a committee can forecast rather than only pay.
Whatever is decided, the reasoning belongs in the minutes. A body corporate must administer the common property for the benefit of the owners and must act reasonably in anything it does, including in making, or not making, a decision. What problem was identified, what options were priced, why this scope: that record costs nothing, and it is what makes the decision defensible when an owner asks.
Access Alarms technician working on a commercial security system in Brisbane

Since 2006

Why Brisbane Businesses Choose Access Alarms

What can actually be verified about Access Alarms is worth stating plainly, because a committee spending other owners' money can be asked at a meeting why it picked a contractor. The business has traded since December 2006 and works from a real office at 2/789 Kingsford Smith Drive, Eagle Farm, and 'Apartments and Body Corporate' is one of six industries it names and treats separately. Its own material says the body corporate manager or the committee typically administers the system afterwards, that it works with strata managers, committees and building managers, and that it provides training and ongoing support. It services and upgrades systems other companies installed. What is not evidenced matters just as much here. No completed Brisbane scheme, lot count or committee engagement is published anywhere on its site, so nothing on this page claims body corporate track record. The business describes itself as licensed and insured but publishes no licence number, and this is licensed work in Queensland - so ask for the details and check them before you vote.

The useful moment to have a scope priced is before the committee prepares next year's budgets, not after owners have considered them. Ask for a proposal that separates the up-front cost from the ongoing annual cost so it can be forecast, and one detailed enough for a committee to minute a reasoned decision. Ask for the Queensland security provider licence details as well, and check them - it is licensed work here. Access Alarms works with strata managers, committees and building managers and provides training and ongoing support once a system is in, and can usually take over a system another company installed rather than replacing it. Call the Eagle Farm office.

Common Security Problems We Solve

The proposal lands in the body corporate manager's inbox and stops there

Why it happens

The strata management firm is usually the only contact a security company is given. But Strata Community Association (Qld) states that a body corporate manager carries out the duties in the administration agreement and has no decision-making power, acting only on the instruction of the committee, while the committee makes the decisions.

Why it matters

A quote that never reaches an agenda cannot be decided on, and the funding cycle does not wait: budgets are prepared for owners to consider at each annual general meeting, and levies follow from them.

What we do

Access Alarms works directly with strata managers, body corporate committees and building managers. Ask for a scope that can be tabled, with the up-front cost separated from the ongoing annual cost so it can go into a budget.

The committee that approves the system is not the committee that has to live with it

Why it happens

The body corporate must elect a committee at each annual general meeting, made up of lot owners or people who act for them. Owners ask what happens when the committee changes over.

Why it matters

A year later the people running the building often did not scope the system, do not know why it was placed that way, and cannot say who holds the administrator account.

What we do

Access Alarms states it designs systems that stay manageable over time and provides training and ongoing support, with the body corporate manager or committee typically administering the system afterwards. Ask for training that is not tied to one individual, and settle in writing who holds the administrator account.

Nobody currently on the committee signed the contract for the system already installed

Why it happens

A scheme's system is often installed by a developer or by a committee several handovers ago, and the paperwork rarely travels with the building.

Why it matters

The committee ends up choosing between a full replacement it has to fund and a supplier prepared to take on what is there, without knowing what was agreed.

What we do

Access Alarms takes over other companies' systems and in most cases can service, repair and upgrade what is already installed. Before asking for a quote, use the records regime: an interested person can inspect the body corporate's records or obtain copies of specific documents, and the body corporate must comply within 7 days of a written request and the fee.

The camera question gets answered by everyone except the scheme's own by-laws

Why it happens

Installers, owners and neighbours all have a view, and the by-laws are the one document nobody reads first.

Why it matters

The OAIC advises that where a property is part of a strata scheme, the by-laws should be checked to see whether they cover installing or using security cameras. The Queensland Office of the Information Commissioner states that exterior cameras on a body corporate property must comply with body corporate and community management laws, and tells people to check with the body corporate committee before installing cameras because approval may be needed.

What we do

Access Alarms does not determine whether a scheme's by-laws permit a camera and does not give legal advice. The order of questions is by-laws first, then the scheme's own position, then placement. The Commissioner publishes a fact sheet titled 'Video surveillance in a body corporate', and the Commissioner's office runs a free information service on freecall 1800 060 119.

Audio is treated as part of the camera decision when it is a separate one

Why it happens

The scope is discussed as a camera decision, so the questions asked are about coverage and placement rather than sound. Audio recording is dealt with separately under Queensland law, and nothing settled in the camera decision answers it.

Why it matters

The Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland states that the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld) makes it an offence to audio record a private conversation you are not involved in, and that a person involved in a conversation may record it but faces restrictions on communicating or publishing that recording. A scheme's equipment can capture conversations no one at the body corporate is party to.

What we do

Treat audio as its own decision. Ask the installer, in writing, which devices on the scope capture audio and whether it can be disabled, then minute what the committee decided. Access Alarms does not state whether a particular recording would be an offence and does not claim any configuration is compliant; the OIC guide itself notes you may need legal advice on using such a recording.

Everyone assumes the Privacy Act applies to the scheme, or assumes it does not

Why it happens

Suppliers and strata commentary tend to state privacy obligations flatly in one direction or the other, and the actual test is about the entity rather than the camera.

Why it matters

The Privacy Act's definition of an organisation expressly includes a body corporate, so a body corporate can be an APP entity; but the OAIC states that an organisation with an annual turnover of $3,000,000 or less is generally a small business operator, generally exempt from the Australian Privacy Principles unless an exception applies. The OAIC's own security cameras guidance describes the Act as covering organisations with an annual turnover of more than $3 million, and some other organisations.

What we do

Access Alarms cannot determine which side of that line a scheme sits on and offers no privacy or legal advice. Confirm the scheme's position with the body corporate manager or the scheme's own adviser before a system starts recording people. Where the Act does cover an organisation, the OAIC states it must tell people their image may be captured before they are recorded, keep recorded personal information secure, and destroy or de-identify it when it is no longer needed - decisions about signage, who holds the login and how long footage is kept have to be made by the committee either way.

The committee cannot explain to owners why it chose this contractor

Why it happens

Security quotes are compared on price and hardware, and the one checkable credential is rarely requested.

Why it matters

In Queensland a current licence is required to install, repair, service or maintain security equipment, expressly including alarms, monitoring systems and audio or visual recording systems, administered by the Office of Fair Trading under the Security Providers Act 1993. The committee is spending money held on behalf of every owner, under a duty to act reasonably in what it does.

What we do

Ask every quoting installer for their Queensland security provider licence details and check them with the Office of Fair Trading. Access Alarms describes itself as licensed and insured but publishes no licence number on its site, so ask for the details directly rather than assuming.

What We Design, Install and Support

Common Property CCTV

Camera systems for the shared areas of a scheme, designed, installed and serviced by a Brisbane security installer.

The order of questions on common property runs by-laws first. The OAIC advises that where a property is part of a strata scheme the by-laws should be checked to see whether they cover installing or using security cameras, and the Queensland Office of the Information Commissioner tells people to check with the body corporate committee before installing cameras, because approval may be needed and exterior cameras on a body corporate property must comply with body corporate and community management laws.

Commercial CCTV

Access Control on Common Property

Electronic access control for shared entries and shared areas, administered by the scheme rather than by the installer.

The administration question outlives the installation. Access Alarms states that the body corporate manager or the committee typically administers the system, that it designs systems that stay manageable over time, and that it provides training and ongoing support - which matters because the body corporate must elect a committee at each annual general meeting.

Access control

Alarm Systems for Shared Areas

Intruder alarm panels and detection for the shared parts of a building, with the option of monitoring.

Commercial alarms

24/7 Alarm Monitoring

Alarm monitoring available 24/7 through a monitoring centre.

Monitoring is a recurring cost, not a one-off one, which is exactly the part a scheme has to plan for: budgets are prepared every financial year for owners to consider at the annual general meeting, and levies follow from them. Ask for it costed annually and separately from the installation.

Alarm monitoring

Servicing and Takeover of an Inherited System

Servicing, repair and upgrade of existing security systems, including systems installed by another company.

Access Alarms takes over other companies' systems and in most cases can service, repair and upgrade what is already installed. Assemble what the scheme holds first - the records regime lets an interested person inspect the body corporate's records or obtain copies of specific documents, with the body corporate required to comply within 7 days of a written request and the fee.

Security system servicing

Training and Ongoing Support for Whoever Administers It

Training and ongoing support for the people who run the system day to day.

Owners ask what happens when the committee changes over, and the answer is structural: a new committee is elected at each annual general meeting. Access Alarms states that it provides training and ongoing support and that the body corporate manager or committee typically administers the system, so ask for training that does not depend on one individual staying on the committee.

Contact Access Alarms

Commercial security specialist since 2006

We design, install, monitor and service commercial security across Brisbane, and we take over systems other companies installed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who manages the security system in a body corporate once it is installed?
This is a question customers ask. Typically the body corporate manager or the committee administers it, and Access Alarms provides training and ongoing support. It is worth being clear about the difference between those two roles before anyone decides who holds the logins. Strata Community Association (Qld) states that a body corporate manager carries out the duties in the administration agreement and has no decision-making power, acting only on the instruction of the committee, while the committee makes the decisions and enforces the by-laws. The legislation puts it the same way: a decision of the body corporate manager is void to the extent it is inconsistent with a decision of the committee. The manager administers; the committee decides.
Do we need body corporate approval before putting cameras on common property?
This page cannot answer that for your scheme, and you should be wary of any supplier that does. The answer turns on three things nobody outside the scheme can see: which regulation module the scheme is registered under, what its by-laws say, and the value of the work relative to the number of lots. The committee's procedures and powers are stated in the regulation module rather than in the Act, and Queensland Government guidance sets out an approval framework for improvements to common property that varies on cost relative to the number of lots and on the module, with different rules again under the Commercial Module. The Queensland Office of the Information Commissioner's own instruction is to check with the body corporate committee before installing cameras, because approval may be needed, and it states that exterior cameras on a body corporate property must comply with body corporate and community management laws. So: check the by-laws, ask the body corporate manager to confirm the regulation module and the committee's current spending limit, and ask whether the work is treated as an improvement to common property. The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management provides a free information service on freecall 1800 060 119 and publishes a fact sheet titled 'Video surveillance in a body corporate'. Anything beyond that is a question for the scheme's own legal advice.
What happens to the system when the committee changes over?
Owners ask this, and it comes from a structural fact: the body corporate must elect a committee at each annual general meeting, made up of lot owners or people who act for them. So the people who approve a system are frequently not the people living with it a year later. Two consequences worth designing for. The system needs to be operable by whoever is elected next rather than by the one person who commissioned it, which is what training and ongoing support are for. And the paperwork needs to be findable: an interested person, including an owner of a lot, a mortgagee, a buyer of a lot or their agent, can inspect the body corporate's records or obtain copies of specific documents, and the body corporate must comply within 7 days of receiving a written request and the fee. That is a strong argument for the quote, the contract, the warranty and the approving minutes living with the records rather than in an outgoing chairperson's inbox. Ask any installer, including us, who will hold the administrator account afterwards, and get the answer in writing.
Does the Privacy Act apply to our body corporate?
It depends on the scheme, and it is not something Access Alarms can determine for you. The Privacy Act's definition of an organisation expressly includes a body corporate, so a body corporate can be an APP entity. But the OAIC states that an organisation with an annual turnover of $3,000,000 or less is generally a small business operator and is generally exempt from the Australian Privacy Principles unless an exception applies, so many smaller Queensland schemes will generally sit outside them. The OAIC's security cameras guidance describes the Act as covering organisations with an annual turnover of more than $3 million, and some other organisations. The OAIC publishes no strata-specific determination, so no page can tell a scheme which side of the line it is on: confirm your own position with your body corporate manager or your own adviser before a system starts recording people. Where the Act does cover an organisation, the OAIC states it must tell people their image may be captured before they are recorded, keep recorded personal information secure, and destroy or de-identify it when it is no longer needed. Signage, who may view footage and how long it is kept are decisions a committee has to make and minute in any event.
Does the equipment record audio, and does that matter?
Ask, because audio is a separate decision from video. The Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland states that the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld) makes it an offence to audio record a private conversation you are not involved in, and that while a person involved in a conversation may record it, there are restrictions on communicating or publishing that recording. A scheme's equipment can capture conversations that nobody at the body corporate is a party to, which is a different question from the vision. The same guide notes that section 227A of the Queensland Criminal Code makes it an offence to video record people without their consent in places where they would expect to be private. Nothing here tells you whether a particular recording would be an offence, and Access Alarms does not claim that any product configuration is compliant. What a committee can do is ask the installer in writing which devices capture audio and whether it can be disabled, decide the point deliberately, and minute it. The OIC guide itself says you may need legal advice to determine whether you can use an audio recording of a private conversation.
Can a lot owner ask us for the footage?
We are deliberately not answering that one, in either direction. There is a clear records-access right in Queensland: an interested person, including an owner, a mortgagee or a buyer of a lot, can inspect the body corporate's records or obtain copies of specific documents, and the body corporate must comply within 7 days of receiving a written request and the fee. Whether camera footage falls inside that regime is not something this page will assert, and it is not a question for a security installer to settle. Put it to your body corporate manager, or to the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, which runs a free information service and a dispute resolution process including conciliation and adjudication, on freecall 1800 060 119. Decide the scheme's position before the cameras are switched on rather than when the first request arrives, and record what you decide.
We inherited a system and nobody knows what was signed. Do we have to replace it?
Often not. Access Alarms takes over other companies' systems and, in most cases, can service, repair and upgrade what is already installed. Before asking anyone to quote, assemble what the scheme already holds: the original contract, the quote, the minutes that approved it, the warranty, the monitoring account details and whoever holds the administrator credentials. The records regime helps, because an interested person can inspect the body corporate's records or obtain copies of specific documents and the body corporate must comply within 7 days of a written request and the fee. What we will not do is promise a cutover timeline, a price, or that particular hardware can be reused, before someone has looked at what is actually there.
How should a committee check an installer before it votes?
Ask for the Queensland security provider licence details, then check them yourself. In Queensland a current licence is required to install, repair, service or maintain security equipment, expressly including alarms, monitoring systems and audio or visual recording systems, administered by the Office of Fair Trading under the Security Providers Act 1993. Access Alarms describes itself as licensed and insured but does not publish a licence number on its site, so ask us for it directly rather than assuming, and put the same question to every other quoting installer. This matters more here than on an ordinary commercial job, because the money is held on behalf of every owner and the body corporate must act reasonably in anything it does, including in making, or not making, a decision. A quote you can check, and minutes recording why it was chosen, are what make that defensible later.

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Service areas

Fortitude Valley South Brisbane East Brisbane Chermside North Brisbane

Sources

  1. Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld)
  2. Queensland Government - Improving common property and lots
  3. Queensland Government - Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management
  4. Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland - Camera surveillance, video, and audio recording: a Queensland community guide
  5. Office of the Australian Information Commissioner - Security cameras

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