Facial Recognition Technology

We work hard every day to make Bunnings a safe and welcoming place for everyone.

Across Australia, retailers continue to face serious challenges from repeat offending that impacts our team and customers. In practice, this means we see the same people repeatedly targeting our stores, committing serious retail crime and engaging in violent, threatening and intimidating behaviour towards our people.

We want to do everything we can to help prevent this from happening. To strengthen our existing security measures, we're preparing to introduce Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) across our Australian store network.

The numbers behind retail crime 

Retail crime has a significant impact on retailers across Australia, and we are continuing to see concerning incidents of violence and threatening behaviour in our stores.

Our position is simple: no one should have to experience abuse, threats or violence simply for doing their job or going about their day.

The numbers below tell the story.

What we do to keep our people safe

Across our network, we invest in people, training, store design and technology to help deter retail crime and respond quickly when incidents occur. This includes:

• Investing over $10 million each year in security, including tactical guards
• Trialling entry and exit gates in selected stores, with the intention to introduce them into 70 sites this Financial Year (FY27).
• Team member body-worn cameras
• CCTV
• Licence plate recognition
• Store security design, including physical barriers, locked cabinets and security tagging for high-value items
• Push-to-talk handsets with duress functionality and discreet distress signals
• Team training focused on safety and de-escalation
• Clear in-store signage and PA announcements reinforcing respectful behaviour (eg: ‘It’s Not OK’)
• Banning notices and prohibition letters to offenders, excluding them from our stores
• Processes for responding to aggressive or substance-affected behaviour
• Loss prevention reporting tools

We also work closely with governments, industry bodies and unions to strengthen protections for frontline retail workers and support legislative change that helps keep people safe.

We have a duty of care to provide safe workplaces and shopping environments. Safety must be treated as a fundamental workplace obligation, not an accepted risk of retail.

Facial Recognition Technology

As part of this ongoing commitment, we are preparing to introduce FRT across our Australian store network in a phased approach, and as an additional safety tool. In doing so:

• We will use FRT for the sole purpose of protecting the health, safety and security of our customers and team members, and reducing organised crime and high-value theft, by proactively reducing the serious harm caused by repeat offenders. FRT will not be used for anything else.
• By ‘serious harm’, we mean violent, threatening, aggressive, and intimidating behaviour, incidents involving weapons, physical and verbal assault, racial and sexual harassment, and high-value theft and organised retail crime.
• FRT will give our team early warning about repeat offenders who have previously committed serious harm in our stores. It will allow our Loss Prevention team and store leaders to be notified in real time, enabling them to take appropriate action to help protect team and customers. It will help us respond safely and prevent or minimise incidents before they escalate.

Our decision to roll out FRT follows a finding by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) in February 2026, which found Bunnings was entitled to use FRT to combat very significant retail crime and protect team members and customers from violence, abuse and intimidation in our stores.

The Tribunal also identified areas where we could improve, including how we communicate with customers about FRT, our privacy policy and in-store signage. We take these findings seriously and they are informing our approach as we prepare to introduce FRT across our stores.

Putting the right safeguards in place

We are focused on making sure our use of FRT is responsible, transparent and supported by strong privacy safeguards.

We are carefully reviewing every aspect of how FRT would operate in our stores to protect our team members, customers and suppliers while respecting people's privacy.

As part of this work, we are:

• Completing a Privacy Impact Assessment to identify and address privacy risks before FRT is introduced.
• Listening to our customers and team members through comprehensive research programs to better understand their views, expectations and concerns.
• Engaging with First Nations communities, the broader community and other stakeholders to help ensure our approach is inclusive, culturally informed and reflects a range of perspectives.
• Engaging with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and government to ensure our approach aligns with legal requirements and emerging best practice.
• Applying what we learned from Bunnings New Zealand's rollout, including what's worked well and opportunities to strengthen our approach in Australia.
• Planning our operational processes, governance and training to ensure there are clear safeguards, appropriate oversight and the right procedures in place before FRT is switched on.

We will provide updates as this work progresses and before FRT is introduced into our Australian stores.

Bunnings’ FRT timeline

• November 2018 – November 2021: Bunnings trialled FRT in 63 stores across Victoria and New South Wales. The trial was designed to help protect our team members, customers and suppliers by identifying known repeat offenders involved in serious retail crime and threatening behaviour. We have not used FRT since our trial ended in November 2021. Click here to watch how we used the technology during this trial.
• October 2024: The OAIC determined that our use of FRT did not comply with the Privacy Act.
• Late 2024: We appealed to the ART to review the OAIC's determination.
• February 2026: The ART found that Bunnings could use FRT to combat very significant retail crime and protect people from violence, abuse, and intimidation in its stores.
- The ART also identified areas for improvement. While confirming the technology could be used for these purposes, the Tribunal found that Bunnings should strengthen the way it communicates with customers about FRT and put procedures and systems in place that ensure compliance with Australian privacy law. This included providing clearer information in our privacy policy, improving in-store signage and ensuring customers have better information about how facial images are collected, used and protected.
• Today: We are applying the ART’s findings and the OAIC's guidance, and taking all necessary steps, to comply with the Privacy Act as we prepare to introduce FRT across our Australian stores. This includes developing privacy safeguards, customer information and signage, and engaging with our customers, team and stakeholders, so the right governance, training and operational processes are in place before FRT is introduced.

How can you contact us about privacy?

You can direct any questions, requests for further information or complaints about privacy to the Bunnings’ Privacy Officer, using the contact details below.

Bunnings’ Privacy Officer
Botanicca 3 - Level 2 East Tower, 570 Swan Street,
BURNLEY VIC 3121
Locked Bag 3004, HAWTHORN VIC 3122,
AUSTRALIA
Email: privacy@bunnings.com.au

We’d like the chance to resolve any complaints you have and encourage you to call or write to us about your concerns. You can also contact the OAIC at the details below:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: 1300 363 992