Central Coast Council’s cameras could use AI to analyse behaviour under a CCTV policy councillors are asked to adopt

The final policy lets the council add artificial intelligence, such as object recognition and behavioural pattern analysis, to its CCTV at its discretion. It does not mention facial recognition. AI was the first concern in the 13 public submissions, and none of the changes made after exhibition touches that clause. The Governance and Finance Committee is asked on Tuesday 10 November to recommend that Council adopt it.

7 November 2026 · 2 primary sources, linked below

Ledger-style graphic for a council story: ruled bands and a tide-coloured accent — Story graphic: The Coast Record’s council device. Every clause and count below is linked to the council document it comes from.

13submissions during exhibition, 28 May to 25 June 2026

7 of 10online survey respondents supported the draft (70 per cent, as the summary reports it)

31 daysthe minimum the council keeps recorded footage; longer at its discretion

Not namedfacial recognition appears nowhere in the 17-page policy

Central Coast Council runs cameras in its buildings and facilities, on beaches and in other public places, and some of them can be watched live by NSW Police. The policy that governs them has been rewritten, and the version councillors are asked to adopt leaves putting artificial intelligence into those systems to the council’s discretion. The report is item 2.5 in the business paper for the Governance and Finance Committee, which meets at 7pm on Tuesday 10 November in function room 2 at the Wyong administration building. This story reports what the committee is asked to do; it has not decided anything.

What the AI clause says

Council may, at its discretion, implement artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within CCTV systems to enhance monitoring capabilities, such as automated motion detection, object recognition, or behavioural pattern analysis.
Central Coast Council, Closed Circuit Television Policy, clause 11.1, as recommended for adoption (Attachment 2 to item 2.5)

The rest of section 11 says any AI use will be governed by law, the council’s privacy obligations and ethical standards, will operate under strict controls, and will be reviewed regularly. It does not say who decides to switch AI on, which cameras it may run on, or what it may not be used for. Elsewhere the policy makes the council responsible for consulting the public on proposed changes to CCTV operations (clause 7.1.5), but section 11 does not say whether turning on AI counts as one. Facial recognition, biometric analysis and predictive policing are not mentioned anywhere in the policy. The policy also delegates its responsibilities to the Chief Executive Officer, so on its face the decision would rest with the council organisation rather than a vote of councillors.

People who wrote in noticed. The council’s own engagement summary puts “AI & Automated Surveillance Concerns” first among four themes, and lists what respondents raised: object recognition, behavioural pattern analysis and tracking, no prohibition on facial recognition and biometric profiling, no algorithmic impact assessment or bias testing, and no requirement for a human in the loop. One submission, quoted in the summary, reads: I am particularly disturbed by behavioural pattern analysis.

The council’s answer was that the policy sets the governance framework, and that operational protocols and procedures will govern the implementation and management of any AI-enabled functionality. Those procedures are not attached to the report, and the policy’s own “Associated Procedure” field is still the template placeholder. Neither document says whether any council camera uses AI today.

Who can see the footage

NSW Police

Live viewCertain cameras (cl. 9.1)
RecordingsFormal application, warrant or other legal purpose (cl. 9.2)
UseInvestigating a crime, now also “law enforcement purposes” (cl. 12.2.1)

Council staff

Live viewRoles with a demonstrated operational need (cl. 3.7.2)
Operational use11 named teams, from libraries to holiday parks (cl. 21)
Every accessLogged and open to audit (cl. 8.1.4, 10.1.10)

Councillors

Live or recordedNot authorised (cl. 3.7.4)

You

RecordingsOnly where the law or the policy allows (cl. 13.2)
If a crime was filmedReport it to police, who decide whether to seek footage (cl. 14.1)
Flood camerasMay be published as images on a council platform (cl. 8.2)

Who may see Central Coast Council’s CCTV footage under the policy recommended for adoption. Rows in colour changed after exhibition. From Attachment 2 to item 2.5 and the change list in the report, Governance and Finance Committee business paper, 10 November 2026.

The policy is plain that Councillors are not authorised to access live or recorded CCTV footage. Respondents, the summary says, questioned democratic accountability when contractors have access and elected councillors do not. Footage is kept for at least 31 days, and longer where the council needs it for operations, legal requirements or investigations.

What changed after exhibition

The report lists every change between the exhibited draft and the final version. Three matter to a resident.

Changes to the CCTV policy after public exhibition
Clause	Change	Why, per the report
12.2.1	Police use widened from investigating a crime to add “or law enforcement purposes”	NSW Police consultation; to enable intelligence and other uses
8.2 (new)	The council may publish live, near real-time or refreshed images of flood-prone roads, crossings and other public places, after privacy controls such as masking or lower resolution	Internal consultation with the Environmental Management Unit
13.2, 13.3	Recorded footage stays closed to the public; published flood images create no right to recordings	Same
21	Five more council units authorised to use CCTV for operational purposes, one removed	Correcting an oversight in the original drafting
11	No change to the AI clause	After Legal Services review, the policy was found to address the issues raised

From the report for item 2.5, Governance and Finance Committee business paper, 10 November 2026, condensed. The full wording is in Attachment 1 (track changes) and Attachment 2.

On the police change the report is direct: This change was made to the Policy to enable the use of CCTV for intelligence and other purposes. It describes the police feedback as producing minor amendments and no substantive change. The submissions on privacy, AI and governance went to the council’s Legal Services team, and no further substantive amendments to the Policy were recommended.

What happens next

12 May 2026 Governance and Finance Committee recommends exhibiting the draft.
26 May 2026 Council resolves to exhibit it for at least 28 days (C-26/1021).
28 May to 25 June 2026 Public exhibition: 13 submissions, 46 downloads of the draft.
10 November 2026, 7pm Governance and Finance Committee, Wyong: asked to recommend adoption.
17 November 2026, 6.30pm Next Ordinary Council meeting, Central Coast Chambers.
2029 Policy review date.

Sources: the report for item 2.5 and its Attachments 2 and 3; the council’s meeting calendar for 17 November. The report gives no date for Council’s decision; the engagement summary anticipated adoption in November 2026.

Our view

Most of this policy is careful: councillors kept out of the footage, every access logged, nothing sold, and a privacy test written in before flood cameras go public. The police change is a real widening, from investigating a crime to anything that counts as law enforcement, and the report’s own words, intelligence and other purposes, show it is meant to be.

The AI clause is where the policy stops doing its job. A policy exists to set limits before the technology arrives, and this one hands the limits to procedures nobody outside the organisation has seen. “Behavioural pattern analysis” on public cameras is exactly the use residents asked about, and the answer was no change. Before councillors adopt it they could make three small amendments: switching on any AI function needs a council resolution and public notice; the procedures that govern it are published before it runs; and facial recognition and biometric identification are ruled out unless Council decides otherwise in the open. None of that stops the council using motion detection to find a flooded road. All of it means residents learn about the rest before it happens rather than after.

Sources

About this report. Researched and written with AI systems by a small local team, sourced from the primary sources below. A script checked 6 quotations, word for word, against the copies of the sources we keep on file. How The Coast Record works.

Governance and Finance Committee business paper, 10 November 2026 Central Coast Council business papers, read 7 November 2026 through the portal’s viewer. Meeting time and place. Item 2.5, CCTV Policy for Adoption: the recommendation, executive summary, background, the list of changes after exhibition, stakeholder engagement and risk. Attachment 2, CCTV Policy (17 pages): clauses 2, 3.7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 21 and the policy administration table. Attachment 3, CCTV Policy engagement summary (19 pages): participation, the four themes, the council’s responses and the verbatim submissions.
Council meetings calendar Central Coast Council website, read 7 November 2026: the Ordinary Council meeting at 6.30pm on Tuesday 17 November 2026.

Methodology. Every clause, count and quotation is from the two sources above. We read item 2.5 and Attachments 2 and 3 in full; Attachment 1, the track-changes copy, we did not use, relying instead on the report’s list of changes. “Not mentioned” means the words facial recognition, biometric and predictive policing do not appear in the 17-page policy as attached. The 7 of 10 is our conversion of the summary’s 70 per cent of 10 online survey responses; the other three submissions were written. We have not seen the council’s operational CCTV procedures and do not know whether any of its cameras use AI now. This story reports what the committee is asked to do on 10 November, not a decision. We have not sought comment from the council.

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