Security companies across Queensland are being inundated with requests from fearful residents for home security systems.
Homeowners are forking out thousands of dollars to protect their families, as they worry they'll be burgled or attacked in their homes, leaving some businesses scrambling to keep up.
"It's just gone through the roof," managing director of a Toowoomba-based telecommunications company Phil Neidler said.
The company provides closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems and alarms for homes and businesses, and are considering hiring extra staff as their wait times have blown out to four weeks.
"We're probably doing four or five security camera installs per week," Mr Neidler said.
"That's in comparison to installing one security system a week."
Robust demand for home security
Mr Neidler's experience is not unique. Security companies in Queensland are reporting that demand for home security systems has been surprisingly high over the past year.
Many attribute the spike to the high-profile crimes that have rocked the state in recent months.
A Brisbane-based supplier of security screens and doors, recently hired seven workers, after experiencing a 300 per cent increase in sales leads in the week following the fatal stabbing of Emma Lovell at her North Lakes home on Boxing Day.
"We weren't spending any money on Google, but we were getting more leads than we've ever had over that period," chief executive Daniel Roberts said.
Brendon Barned, who owns a security company in Townsville, said while he mainly installed security systems for commercial purposes, he too had seen a spike in requests for residential properties.
There's also been a resurgence of intruder security alarms — after being overtaken by CCTV cameras – as more people want security systems both inside and outside their home, John Barnett, owner of a security company on the Gold Coast said.
"People are not feeling as secure in their own homes and they just need that extra layer of security, that if someone does break in at least, it's going to make some noise, and they'll be caught on camera," he said.
Gold Coast couple Huong and Rebecca Pham are contemplating installing an alarm system after installing several surveillance cameras around their home last year.
A burglary at a neighbouring property prompted them to spend thousands of dollars on security.
"Our main concern is obviously for the safety of our family – it's nothing to do with the belongings," Ms Pham said.
"We just want to make sure that we're not a target. I think an alarm at the front door, if that was to go off, would certainly send people running."
Media-driven fear behind huge demand
Australian Psychological Society president Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe said the media was "partly responsible" for spreading fear and panic.
She said stories about violent crime and youth crime was over-represented in the news and often led people to overestimate the level of crime in the community, even though statistics showed otherwise.
"What we see is that people hear these stories, hear this media over and over again, and do become very frightened," Dr Davis-McCabe said.
"Individuals then can imagine themselves as being victims of those crimes, and what it does is it makes people panic.
"It makes people feel like they need to put something in place to protect themselves and their family."
Research conducted by the University of Queensland (UQ) last year found the reporting of minor crimes on social media, including uploading video and images captured by CCTV cameras, could also make people feel their neighbourhood was unsafe.
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope argued that sharing surveillance footage online should not be permitted.
"You shouldn't be allowed to put stuff that you've taken of people in your house onto the web without their consent," he said.
"If you've got a home invasion, then of course, you're entitled to hand over the footage to the police to prosecute.
"But the people are entitled to, in this context, the presumption of innocence, and putting up public footage of people interferes with that right."
Calls for privacy laws to be overhauled
He said the increased use of surveillance systems in residential properties was worrying.
The state's privacy laws only apply to listening devices and doesn't extend to current and emerging surveillance technologies like surveillance cameras and tracking devices.
In February 2020, the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC) reviewed the legislation and found there was a need for "a more comprehensive legislative response to appropriately protect the privacy of individuals in relation to the use of surveillance devices".
It recommended that the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 be repealed and replaced with the Commission's draft Surveillance Devices Bill 2020.
A few months later, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made a commitment to introduce "tougher, stronger laws to tackle the increasing pitfalls of the surveillance era" as part of an election promise.
But no changes have been made since she was re-elected for a third term.
The Palaszczuk government was contacted for comment on whether the legislation would be overhauled.
A spokesperson for Queensland's Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman told the ABC in a statement they were "currently considering" the QLRC's recommendations.
"These changes were a 2020 election commitment, and we expect to begin consultation in the coming months," the spokesperson said.
