Woolworths Plans Facial Recognition Trial at Two Canberra Stores
Woolworths plans a facial recognition trial at its Woden and Gungahlin supermarkets in Canberra from November 30, aimed at spotting people banned for violence and abuse. The company says data on unmatched customers would be deleted in under a second.
Woolworths plans facial recognition cameras at its Woden and Gungahlin supermarkets in Canberra, in a trial slated to start on November 30 that aims to identify people banned for violence and abuse.
The supermarket operator says the system would alert staff when known repeat offenders enter, so they can decide sooner what to do, including calling the police. The trial would only go ahead after appropriate consultation with staff.
How the trial would work
Cameras at the two stores would capture biometric information from customers as they enter. The system would check it quickly against a secure watch list.
Two central support staff would validate any potential match before alerting the store. Customer data that matches no profile on the list would be deleted in less than a second, according to Woolworths. Signs would warn customers before they walk in.
No information would be kept on regular customers. The company will assess the results of the time-limited trial afterward.
Why Canberra
Woolworths chose the ACT because of its workplace protection order system. Under it, the magistrates court can ban people at risk of committing personal violence from returning to shops. The company said the two trial stores have the highest proportion of such orders in the territory.
Woolworths has had 16 workplace protection orders granted in the ACT. It recorded 158 violent incidents in the territory in 2025.
Anyone who breaches an order can be fined up to $75,000 and face five years in prison in the ACT. ACT Policing has previously said the orders were "very effective" in stopping recurrent violence.
Scale of the problem
Across Australia, Woolworths recorded more than 6300 violent, abusive or threatening incidents in 2025. Thirty per cent involved known or repeat offenders. The company said incident numbers are on track to be higher this year.
Sarah Faorlin, Woolworths' head of violence prevention, called it appalling that team members still face unprovoked violence and aggression when they are just doing their jobs. She said workplace protection orders have proven effective, but assessing facial recognition in stores "is another way we can help protect team members and customers."
Industry and regulator views
Chris Rodwell, chief executive of the Australian Retail Council, said there are 270 violent incidents on average every day across Australia's retail stores, supermarkets and shopping centres. He said the council supports a nationally consistent rollout "in a way that protects retail workers and respects a customer's privacy."
Rodwell set conditions: use only to identify known repeat offenders who pose a serious safety risk, notify customers on entry, delete biometric data immediately when there is no match, and have a trained person verify any match before staff act.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner updated its advice for retailers in July after an earlier ruling was overturned. It said the law still required a "precautionary approach".
