Supermarket chain Woolworths is considering a trial of facial recognition technology at its Woden and Gungahlin stores in Canberra to protect staff from repeat violent offenders, with the technology potentially in place by the end of the month if consultations succeed.
Woolworths’ head of violence prevention, Sarah Faorlin, said the two stores were chosen because of the “high number of workplace protection orders in place”. The ACT introduced workplace protection orders (WPOs) in 2016 as a legal measure to prevent and reduce workplace violence.
“The ACT unfortunately does have high levels of violence and aggression,” Ms Faorlin said. “The proposed trial of this technology will target known repeat violent, abusive or threatening offenders, including those served by court-ordered WPOs in the ACT.”
Under the proposed system, every customer entering the store would have their face scanned and a temporary biometric profile created. That profile would be checked against a watch list of known repeat violent and aggressive offenders. If no match is made, the profile is deleted within one second. If a match is detected, police may be called and the team will be alerted to the person’s presence in store.
Ms Faorlin said Woolworths had seen a 460 per cent increase in “unacceptable incidents” in its stores nationally since 2020. “It is appalling that our team members continue to face unprovoked violence and aggression when they’re just trying to do their jobs,” she said. “Our team members are your daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, mums and your dads, and we’ll exhaust every avenue to ensure our team members come home safe at the end of the day.”
The union representing grocery workers, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), expressed support for the trial with conditions. NSW and ACT Secretary Bernie Smith said it was his understanding that Woolworths would not “call the police every time their machine pings”, and that police would be called for someone who had breached a WPO, which he said was a criminal offence police had to enforce. He noted that “next door to Woolworths Woden a couple of months ago, a member of ours was beaten up with a baseball bat.” Mr Smith said the technology could help combat violence “as long as it’s done within very strict guidelines as part of a social licensing of it”.
Ms Faorlin said Woolworths would be “really transparent” about the trial and that signage would be displayed outside the two supermarkets. The company is currently consulting with store teams, and if the process is successful, the technology could be in place by the end of the month.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The trial marks one of the most visible uses of mass facial recognition in Australian retail, raising questions about privacy, consent and surveillance in public spaces.
- If successful, the technology could be expanded to other stores, setting a precedent for how retailers handle workplace violence.
- The 460% rise in incidents nationally underscores a worsening problem for retail workers, and this trial represents a significant step in employer response.
Background
Workplace protection orders (WPOs) are legal orders that restrict an individual’s behaviour to prevent workplace violence. The ACT was the first Australian jurisdiction to introduce them in 2016. Woolworths says it has seen “great success” with WPOs in the territory. Facial recognition technology for identifying known offenders has been controversial globally, with privacy advocates warning of bias, data retention and mission creep, though this report does not include those perspectives.
Key Perspectives
Woolworths (Sarah Faorlin, head of violence prevention): says the trial targets repeat violent, abusive or threatening offenders, and that non-matching customers’ biometric profiles are deleted within one second. The company will be transparent and place signage at store entrances.
Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (Bernie Smith, NSW and ACT Secretary): supports the trial provided it operates within strict guidelines and a social licence, and interprets it as alerting police only when a WPO is breached.
What to Watch
- The outcome of Woolworths’ store-team consultation and whether the trial proceeds by the end of the month.
- Any response from the ACT government or privacy regulator on the legality of the trial.
- The volume and accuracy of alerts generated, and how police respond if the system flags someone.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedWoolworths is considering a facial recognition trial in two Canberra stores to protect staff from violence.Just In: “Woolworths is considering a trial of facial recognition technology in two stores in Canberra in an attempt to better protect staff members from violent offenders frequenting their stores.”
- SupportedIf consultations succeed, the technology could be in place by the end of the month.Just In: “If the consultation process is successful, the technology could be implemented by the end of this month.”
- SupportedFaorlin said Woden and Gungahlin were chosen because of the “high number of workplace protection orders in place”.Just In: “Woolworths' head of violence prevention Sarah Faorlin told 666 ABC Radio Canberra these two stores were chosen because of the "high number of workplace protection orders in place".”
- SupportedFaorlin said, “The ACT unfortunately does have high levels of violence and aggression”.Just In: “"The ACT unfortunately does have high levels of violence and aggression," Ms Faorlin said.”
- SupportedFaorlin said the proposed trial would target known repeat violent, abusive or threatening offenders, including people served with court-ordered WPOs in the ACT.Just In: “"The proposed trial of this technology will target known repeat violent, abusive or threatening offenders, including those served by court-ordered WPOs in the ACT."”
- SupportedThe system would scan every customer entering the stores and delete a profile within one second if no match was detected.Just In: “Ms Faorlin said the facial technology would scan every customer as they entered either the Woden or Gungahlin stores, creating a temporary biometric profile. "If there is no detection made, so our genuine customers, their biometric profile will be deleted within one second."”
- SupportedFaorlin said Woolworths had seen a 460 per cent national increase in “unacceptable incidents” in its stores since 2020.Just In: “Ms Faorlin said Woolworths have seen a 460 per cent increase of "unacceptable incidents" in their stores nationally since 2020.”
- SupportedFaorlin said, “It is appalling that our team members continue to face unprovoked violence and aggression when they're just trying to do their jobs”.Just In: “"It is appalling that our team members continue to face unprovoked violence and aggression when they're just trying to do their jobs," she said.”
- SupportedFaorlin said Woolworths would “exhaust every avenue” to ensure team members came home safe.Just In: “"Our team members are your daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, mums and your dads, and we'll exhaust every avenue to ensure our team members come home safe at the end of the day."”
- SupportedSmith said it was his understanding that Woolworths would not “call the police every time their machine pings”.Just In: “NSW and ACT Secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) Bernie Smith said it was his understanding that Woolworths would not "call the police every time their machine pings".”
- SupportedSmith said a member of the union had been beaten with a baseball bat next door to Woolworths Woden a couple of months earlier.Just In: “"To put this in context, next door to Woolworths Woden a couple of months ago, a member of ours was beaten up with a baseball bat."”
- SupportedSmith said facial recognition could help combat violence “as long as it’s done within very strict guidelines as part of a social licensing of it”.Just In: “He said that facial recognition technology could help combat violence "as long as it's done within very strict guidelines as part of a social licensing of it".”