Is it legal to record phone calls in Australia?
Yes, if you follow the rules. Federal law prohibits intercepting a call without the caller's knowledge, and each state and territory has its own consent rules. Three let a party to the call record it; five generally need everyone's consent. For a business, the safe approach is to tell every caller the call is recorded.
Last reviewed: . General information, not legal advice.
What does federal law say about recording phone calls?
The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 makes it an offence to intercept a communication passing over a telecommunications system. Interception means listening to or recording the call in its passage "without the knowledge of the person making the communication". Telling callers the call is recorded means they know.
Section 7 sets out the prohibition and section 6 defines interception (Federal Register of Legislation, section 6 on AustLII). The Australian Law Reform Commission noted in 2014 that the s 7 offence has no exception for a person who is a party to the call (ALRC Report 123). That makes notice to the caller the important step at the federal level.
Is Australia one-party or all-party consent?
It depends on the state or territory. Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory let a party to a private conversation record it without the others' consent. New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT generally require the consent of all principal parties, with limited exceptions.
The ALRC described the split in its 2014 report: only Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory have a "participant monitoring" exception (ALRC). South Australia replaced its law with the Surveillance Devices Act 2016, which requires all principal parties to consent, with lawful interest and public interest exceptions (SA Law Handbook).
Several of these Acts accept consent given "expressly or impliedly" (for example, NSW s 7 and SA s 4). A clear notice at the start of the call, before the caller decides to continue, is how businesses commonly seek that consent.
Call recording laws by state and territory
The table below lists the main surveillance or listening devices law in each state and territory and whether a party to a phone call may record it without everyone's consent. These laws also limit what you can do with a recording afterwards, so check the publication rules too.
| State or territory | Main law | Can a party record without everyone's consent? |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW), s 7 | No. All principal parties must consent, expressly or impliedly, subject to limited exceptions such as protecting a party's lawful interests. |
| Victoria | Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic), ss 6 and 11 | Yes. A party to the conversation may record it, but sharing or publishing the recording is restricted. |
| Queensland | Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld), ss 43 and 45 | Yes. A party to the conversation may record it, but sharing or publishing the recording is restricted. |
| South Australia | Surveillance Devices Act 2016 (SA), s 4 | No. All principal parties must consent, expressly or impliedly, subject to limited exceptions such as protecting a party's lawful interests. |
| Western Australia | Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA), s 5 | No. All principal parties must consent, expressly or impliedly, subject to limited exceptions such as protecting a party's lawful interests. |
| Tasmania | Listening Devices Act 1991 (Tas), s 5 | No. All principal parties must consent, expressly or impliedly, subject to limited exceptions such as protecting a party's lawful interests. |
| Northern Territory | Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NT), s 11 | Yes. A party to the conversation may record it, but sharing or publishing the recording is restricted. |
| Australian Capital Territory | Listening Devices Act 1992 (ACT), s 4 | No. All principal parties must consent, expressly or impliedly, subject to limited exceptions such as protecting a party's lawful interests. |
Summary only. Each Act has exceptions (for example for lawful interests, the public interest and law enforcement) and its own definition of a private conversation. Federal law applies in every state on top of these. Check the current legislation before relying on any row.
What should a business do before recording calls?
Tell every caller at the start that the call is recorded, and why. Say in your privacy policy that you record calls, what you use recordings for and how long you keep them. Limit who can listen, delete recordings you no longer need, and apply the same notice to calls you make, not only calls you receive.
- Play a notice before the conversation starts. For example: "This call is recorded for quality and training." Put it before any personal information is discussed.
- Meet the strictest rule. Your callers may be in any state. A notice on every call works across all of them.
- Update your privacy policy. Businesses covered by the Privacy Act 1988 must follow the Australian Privacy Principles. That includes most businesses with annual turnover above $3 million and health service providers of any size (OAIC).
- Control access and retention. Decide who can listen to recordings and how long you keep them.
- Don't share recordings casually. Publication and communication of recordings is restricted, even where recording was lawful.
- Cover outbound calls. The same rules apply when your business makes the call.
Does an AI receptionist change the rules?
No. A call answered by an AI receptionist is still a phone call, so the same federal and state rules apply to recording it. The AI should play the recording notice at the start, and your privacy policy should say that an AI service answers calls and where recordings and transcripts are stored.
Vereo plays a recording disclosure at the start of each call and can be configured for your state or territory. All Vereo data storage and processing happens in Australia. See the security page for how recordings are protected, and the AI receptionist guide for the wider privacy picture.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to record phone calls in Australia?
Yes, if you follow the rules. Federal law makes it an offence to intercept a call without the caller's knowledge, and state and territory laws set consent rules that differ. Telling every caller at the start that the call is recorded is the standard way businesses meet both.
Is Australia a one-party or two-party consent country for call recording?
Neither across the whole country. Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory let a party to a conversation record it. New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT generally need the consent of all principal parties, with limited exceptions.
Do I have to tell callers that a call is recorded?
For a business, yes in practice. Federal interception law turns on whether the caller knows, and most states require everyone's consent. A notice at the start of the call covers both, and the Privacy Act may also require you to tell people what you collect.
Which law applies when the caller is in another state?
The laws differ between states, and this guide does not settle which one governs a call between two of them. The simplest approach is to meet the strictest standard on every call: tell callers the call is recorded before the conversation starts. Get legal advice if this matters for your business.
Can I share a call recording?
Be careful. Even in states where a party may record, the law restricts communicating or publishing the recording, for example section 45 of the Queensland Invasion of Privacy Act and section 11 of the Victorian Surveillance Devices Act. Keep recordings for the purpose you collected them.
Does Vereo record calls?
Vereo can record calls with built-in consent management: it plays a disclosure at the start of the call and can be configured for your state or territory. All Vereo data storage and processing happens in Australia, and recordings are encrypted at rest and in transit.
Sources
Read on 28 October 2026. The ALRC report dates from 2014; the current Acts are linked for each state and territory.
- Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth), Federal Register of Legislation
- Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth), s 6 (meaning of interception), AustLII
- Australian Law Reform Commission, Report 123 (2014), Participant monitoring
- Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW), NSW Legislation
- Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic), Victorian Legislation
- Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld), Queensland Legislation
- Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland, Camera surveillance, video and audio recording
- Surveillance Devices Act 2016 (SA), South Australian Legislation
- Legal Services Commission of South Australia, Law Handbook: lawful interest and public interest exceptions
- Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA), Western Australian Legislation
- Listening Devices Act 1991 (Tas), Tasmanian Legislation
- Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NT), Northern Territory Legislation
- Listening Devices Act 1992 (ACT), ACT Legislation Register
- OAIC, Small business and the Privacy Act