Risky Chinese CCTV cameras discovered at Sir John Monash Centre in France

Risky Chinese tech uncovered at Australia’s Sir John Monash Centre in France, as government moves to strip Hikvision, Dahua devices from all government properties

Hikvision cameras on the ABC building in Ultimo, Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The Attorney-General’s Department has become the latest department to admit it overlooked the installation of risky Chinese-government linked technology.

The department has written to opposition cyber security minister James Paterson to advise him that it had been wrong when it said previously that its department did not have any devices installed which had been manufactured by the companies Hikvision or Dahua, which are linked back to the Chinese Communist Party.

It had previously confirmed some of the agencies within its department had 195 devices installed, which had all been removed.

But this week the department wrote to Senator Paterson again and said the tally was in fact 212 Hikvision or Dahua devices, some of which were located at one unnamed departmental site.

The department said the devices were “non-networked’’ and had been “immediately decommissioned.’’

A spokesperson did not respond to questions about where the cameras had been installed.

“It’s alarming that almost a year after I first asked, the Attorney-General’s Department - one of our lead national security agencies - has only now realised they had dangerous security cameras. But they still won’t admit where or exactly how many,’’ Senator Paterson said.

“The Albanese Government cannot sit on their hands any longer.’’

His comments come after the Department of Veterans’ Affairs also belatedly confirmed it had removed 34 Hikvision CCTV cameras from the Sir John Monash Centre, a museum near Villers-Bretonneux in France that tells the story of Australian sacrifice on the Western Front in World War 1.

Eleven months after being asked by opposition cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson about the devices, the department finally responded last week, advising the devices had all been removed by May.

The devices, manufactured by Chinese companies with links back to the CCP and which are subject to Beijing’s national security laws, were removed from Australian government facilities after an audit in response to the US government black-listing products because of security concerns.

Sites where the tech was removed included the ABC, Defence and DFAT buildings, as well as buildings housing the ­Attorney-General’s Department, and from 88 electorate offices.

In responses to questions lodged by Senator Paterson, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs confirmed it had located 34 Hik­vision cameras at the Sir John Mon­ash Centre, which were all replaced in May.

“The SJMC is a public-facing interpretative centre where limited departmental business is conducted,’’ the department said last week.

It had previously confirmed it had removed 11 Hikvision cameras from its facilities in Canberra, including from the Australian War Memorial.

“It is welcome that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has ­finally got on top of their exposure to these risky products, although why it took them so long to disclose it has not been explained,’’ Senator Paterson said.

“There remains an obvious need for a central government function to map our exposure to all these high risk vendors and provide mitigation advice.

“Hopefully the government will eventually announce a strategy for high risk vendors from auth­oritarian countries as part of their new cyber security strategy.’’

Western governments are moving away from Chinese-made tech because of growing concerns that they pose a security risk, and that fact Chinese-headquartered companies are subject to national security laws that require them to hand over data upon demand from Beijing’s intelligence agencies.

Australia’s Five Eyes and AUKUS partners the US and Britain moved last year to ban or restrict devices from Hikvision and Dahua because of its links back to the CCP, while the Pentagon also banned some devices because of suspected military links.

The Defence Department is seeking to turbocharge the Australian drone industry after ridding itself of non-armed Chinese DJI drones, which are used mainly for surveillance and photography.

As well as removing Hikvision, Dahua and DJI products, Australia has previously banned Chinese telco Huawei from participating in Australia’s 5G rollout.

Social media platform TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese parent company, is also banned from being installed on government devices.