Faulty surveillance camera missed alleged sexual assault in Blaxland

The federal government Safer Streets Program, which funds CCTV, has come under fire after faulty security cameras failed to capture an alleged sexual assault in the Blue Mountains region.

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A federal government program which funds CCTV has again come under fire after faulty cameras failed to capture an alleged sexual assault.

Police are still waiting for footage two weeks after an incident along the rear of a row of shops on the Great Western Hwy at Blaxland in the Blue Mountains.

The June 23 incident, which happened in the evening and involved one alleged victim and one assailant, could well have been captured by the cameras.

The CCTV camera is mounted on a building at Hope St, Blaxland.

Four years after a $150,000 federal government grant to the Blaxland Chamber of Commerce to install CCTV, however, Liberal Brendan Christie said the cameras are not working and is calling for greater oversight of taxpayer dollars.

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“While government funding for CCTV is a great initiative, it’s critical local businesses are supported in the installation and maintenance, by preferably local security experts, to ensure when it’s installed it actually works,” Mr Christie, a Blue Mountains councillor, said.

“We need to consider the best way to do this, without putting the burden on local business owners.

“We need a nationwide best practice approach that will support all participants and keep our community safe.”

Blue Mountains Councillor Brendan Christie says the CCTV cameras are not working.

The Blaxland Chamber of Commerce was given $150,000 in taxpayer money as part of the Department of Home Affair’s $50 million Safer Streets Program.

Chamber president Jo Bromilow hung up when contacted by The Sunday Telegraph.

The funding hands out cash to councils and community organisations across the country for CCTV and street lighting.

The program is part of the wider Safer Communities Fund, which has given millions to local councils fund anti-terror bollards, fences and CCTV in places like Penrith, Randwick and Fairfield.

“We have put in a request for CCTV footage but are waiting for a formal response,” Springwood Police Detective Acting Inspector Brendan Bayliss said.

“Nobody has been arrested or charged at this time.

“CCTV is a great investigative tool. Police are calling for witnesses and dashcam footage.”

Blaxland Chamber of Commerce received a grant to install CCTV four years ago. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

In 2015 the Australian National Audit Office found the Safer Streets Program’s “merit assessment process … was handled particularly poorly by the department”.

It also found gaps in assessing which organisations are suitable to install and operate the cameras, ongoing costs that the department was unaware of the “the number of CCTV cameras that would be installed”.

Ryde Council installed $200,000 worth of CCTV cameras in 2016 under the Safer Streets Program.

Mayor Jerome Laxale said appeals for money to cover the significant maintenance costs “have fallen on deaf ears”.

A Department of Home Affairs spokeswoman said the government funded the 23 cameras in 2015 and the Attorney-General’s Department was responsible for the implementation and delivery of the Safer Streets Program.

“Program guidelines for round one of the Safer Streets Program made clear that funding was for non‑recurrent, time-limited, crime prevention projects,” she said.

“Grantees such as local councils were responsible for the delivery of projects and ongoing maintenance costs, as is appropriate for local security infrastructure projects.

“The implementation of the ANAO Review findings is a matter for the Attorney-General’s Department.”