Audit: Australian Senate Estimates reveals 435 Chinese-made surveillance devices found at defence sites
Defence Internal Audit Finding 31 May 2023
Australian Senate questioning reveals 435 Chinese-made surveillance devices found at defence sites
Defence initially claimed there was only one device
Western Australia Auditor General Report: Information Systems Audit – Local Government 2021-22
Media Report:Explosive revelations of over 400 Chinese spyware devices installed across Australian Defence sites | YouTube
Read more Western Australia Auditor General Reports and West Australia incidents.
In questioning officials on Wednesday, Senator Paterson queried how many had been discovered as part of the audit.
Hundreds of Chinese-made security cameras have been found at a number of defence sites across Australia after the department claimed there was only one. However, Defence Minister Richard Marles said he had asked the department to engage in a further audit, ‘just to make sure we’ve not missed any’.
Defence officers revealed they had uncovered 435 spy devices ‘of concern’ during a senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.
These devices were manufactured by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua, which are both partly-owned by the Chinese government.
Celia Perkins, the deputy secretary responsible for security and estate, said there had been a significant increase in response to Mr Marle’s “detailed physical audit” order.
She said defence was now working through a process of completely removing the devices from all sites and the department was on track to have that “completed” by June 30.
