The City of Melbourne is set to significantly expand its surveillance infrastructure by activating more than 100 additional CCTV cameras as part of its Safe City Camera Program. The rollout stems from the council’s 2025-26 draft budget, which allocates approximately AUD 2.1 million for the camera upgrade.
The current system features over 200 cameras monitored round the clock. The expansion will focus on high-visibility surveillance locations and prepare for a future layer of artificial intelligence (AI) analytics—such as facial or gait recognition and object-tracking algorithms—to assist in detecting crime, vandalism and illegal dumping.
In parallel, the council proposes integrating up to 100 additional cameras—40 owned by the council and 60 privately owned—and extending authorized access to footage for council enforcement officers beyond the Victoria Police. This initiative is co-funded by approximately AUD 3.6 million from the state government and AUD 2.1 million from the council.
The policy review also outlines a three-phase upgrade: immediate maintenance and hardware refresh; expansion of network reach; and, finally, deployment of video analytics technologies. The timeline spans from mid-2025 through 2026.
While vendors and specific AI platform providers have not been publicly named, industry commentary suggests that systems capable of real-time object detection, behavior recognition and number-plate reading are under consideration.
No official procurement announcement has detailed vendor names or contract values beyond the budget allocations.
