Australian Teachers Mutual Bank has scrapped a new policy requiring staff to fit GPS tracking devices in their company cars, after unions found it breached New South Wales workplace surveillance laws. The bank introduced the devices in July for fleet administration and reporting purposes, but the Finance Sector Union raised concerns that the trackers could not be disabled outside work hours or during private use, which staff were contractually entitled to do, effectively allowing round-the-clock monitoring including weekends.

The arrangement was found to conflict with the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005, which bars employers from monitoring staff outside working hours, and possibly the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 and equivalent laws in other states. Workers said the only way to stop the tracking was to remove the device entirely, which itself breached the bank's vehicle policy, and complained they were never consulted before the devices, supplied by fleet management firm Linxio, were installed. Teachers Mutual Bank, which merged with Australian Mutual Bank in May and serves around 280,000 members across several affiliated brands, is now in consultation with the Finance Sector Union over its tracking practices.