Concerns have been raised over a women's refuge using cameras in living areas and corridors, with footage streamed to senior staff members' mobile phones.
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Dubbo Women's Refuge, managed by Orana Support Service, provides accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence.
Peter Gallagher, the chief executive of Orana Support Service, told Fairfax Media a number of cameras were installed inside the premises in February to monitor the common rooms, kitchen and corridors.
Mr Gallagher said the purpose of the surveillance was to ensure client safety.
"We have five different families at any point in the Women's Refuge and occasionally we have incidents between the families ... we had a problem with people stealing food out of the freezer, little things like that," Mr Gallagher said.
Mr Gallagher said the surveillance footage was able to be viewed on his mobile phone, and the phone of a senior case manager.
"(With) the policies we've put in place, we review it only if we need to review it - if an incident has happened in the house," he said.
A staff member raised concerns about the appropriateness of women fleeing domestic violence being put under video surveillance.
"I think it's wrong, it upsets me greatly," the staff member said. "These are women in domestic violence situations with their children, they're coming from being watched by their husbands all the time, completely controlled, into this environment."
Roxanne McMurray, spokeswoman for SOS Women's Services, said when women were in a refuge, they were "at home".
"It's totally inappropriate that a man would be monitoring women and children, let alone in a private place ... if there's one place women and children have a right to feel safe, it should be in their home," she said.
While exterior video surveillance of a refuge would be common, Ms McMurray said it was "very strange" and "highly unusual" for a women's refuge to have internal camera surveillance.
While signs are in place and cameras visible on the ceiling, it is uncertain if clients were able to provide informed consent.
"By the time they're in a refuge, (the women) are living in complete chaos, they often have depression and anxiety for good reason ... to have signs up and assume that is informed consent, that is just wrong on every level," Ms McMurray said.
Women who may not want video surveillance would have very few options, as domestic violence services are limited in the region.
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The NSW Privacy Commissioner, Dr Elizabeth Coombs, said that while she acknowledged video surveillance could be a useful tool to monitor safety, "women and children in refuges are already in vulnerable circumstances and it's important that the surveillance itself does not inadvertently increase this vulnerability".
Dr Coombs said there were significant issues and risks associated with surveillance footage being streamed to a mobile device, including the vulnerability of children and the safety risks posed if the device was lost or accessed by unauthorised people.
The Privacy Commissioner said she was responsible for administering the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, but this only covered public sector agencies and not contractors providing services on behalf of a public sector agency.
The Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) spokesperson said: "FACS is aware of the concerns being raised and is working closely with Orana to ensure the timely resolution of the matter".
Mr Gallagher contacted Fairfax to say he had removed his own access to surveillance footage and it is now only accessible by female managers. He said the CCTV policy will be reviewed after consultation with staff and clients. In relation to client consent, Mr Gallagher said, "We're re-doing those (consent) forms so it's going to be very clear in the future, where it may not have been in the past."
