In last night’s Federal Budget, $50 million was allocated to the Safer Streets Program, promising a roll-out of London-style surveillance cameras in the public areas of cities and towns across the country. Focusing on “local retail and entertainment premises”, as well as “commercial precincts that have high rates of
In last night's Federal Budget, $50 million was allocated to the Safer Streets Program, promising a roll-out of London-style surveillance cameras in the public areas of cities and towns across the country.
Focusing on “local retail and entertainment premises”, as well as “commercial precincts that have high rates of crime”, the money will be spent on installing and maintaining a larger network of security cameras, as well as lighting for poorly-lit areas. The end result: you'll see more public-facing surveillance tracking cameras in high-traffic, high-crime areas like Sydney's Kings Cross, Fortitude Valley in Brisbane and Broadmeadows in Melbourne.
The initiative isn't especially new or surprising; it has been supported by both sides for years, and follows previous security camera and public education initiatives around anti-social behavior and crime.
150 locations for the surveillance roll-out across Australia have been chosen, a significant boost from previous camera networks. The initiative was a Liberal campaign promise back in 2012, expanding upon the $15 million Safer Suburbs Program announced in 2007 with 22 projects funded and continued in 2010 with a further 40 grants. The new Program's $50 million is fully funded, so it apparently won't place additional stress on the government's bottom line.