Is it legal to record a conversation in Victoria?
In Victoria you can record a conversation you're part of without telling the others. Recording a conversation you're not part of is an offence, and sharing any recording is separately restricted.
- Recording a talk you're in
- Yes, with no conditions attached. The ban reaches only a conversation you're not part of, so someone taking part can record without telling anyone. Sharing it is a separate question 1
- Recording one you're not in
- An offence. Recording a private conversation you're not part of, without every person's consent, can bring 2 years in prison 1
- Sharing a recording
- Restricted. Publishing or passing on a recording is a separate offence, even one you were allowed to make. The ways out most people can use are everyone's agreement, a court or disciplinary proceeding, or what is reasonably needed to protect you or the public interest. Section 11(2) adds further exceptions for official use 1
- Biggest penalty
- Up to $50,184 or 2 years in prison for an individual. A company faces up to $250,920 1
- Phone calls
- A call you're on is a conversation you're part of, so you can record it. Intercepting a call while it's still crossing the network is a separate Commonwealth offence 3
In Victoria you can record a conversation you’re part of, and you don’t have to tell anyone. There is no condition to meet and no reason you have to give. 1
The limits are on the other two things you might do. Recording a conversation you’re not part of is an offence, and passing on any recording of a private conversation is a second one. 1
Can you record a conversation you’re part of in Victoria?
Yes, with nothing attached.
Victoria’s ban is written around people who are outside the conversation, so it never reaches someone taking part. 1
s 6(1) The ban is about recording others, not yourself Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) 1
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not knowingly install, use or maintain a listening device to overhear, record, monitor or listen to a private conversation to which the person is not a party, without the express or implied consent of each party to the conversation. Penalty: In the case of a natural person, level 7 imprisonment (2 years maximum) or a level 7 fine (240 penalty units maximum) or both; In the case of a body corporate, 1200 penalty units. […]
Everything hangs on the words “to which the person is not a party”. If you took part, you are a party, and the section simply does not apply to you. You can record a meeting you are sitting in or a call you are on, without telling the others and without a reason. 1
What counts as private is worth knowing, because the offence only covers private conversations. 1
s 3(1) What counts as a private conversation Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) 1
private conversation means a conversation carried on in circumstances that may reasonably be taken to indicate that the parties to it desire it to be heard only by themselves, but does not include a conversation made in any circumstances in which the parties to it ought reasonably to expect that it may be overheard by someone else;
A private conversation is one the people having it clearly meant to keep to themselves. A conversation you’d reasonably expect to be overheard isn’t private in the first place. 1
Can you record a conversation you’re not part of?
No, unless every person in it agrees. Victoria writes the consent requirement into the offence itself: recording a conversation you are not a party to, without the express or implied consent of each party, is what the section prohibits. 1
One speaker’s agreement is not enough, and that is where Victoria differs from several other states. 1
s 3(1) Who counts as a party to a conversation Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) 1
party— (a) to a private activity, means a person who takes part in the activity; (b) to a private conversation, means a person by or to whom words are spoken in the course of the conversation;
A party here is only a person by or to whom words are spoken. Someone recording on one speaker’s say-so is still outside the conversation, so the offence still applies to them. 1
The exceptions are longer than you’d expect, but each is tied to an official role. They cover warrants and emergency authorisations, and other Commonwealth laws. They cover a law enforcement officer recording with one party’s consent for someone’s safety. They cover body-worn cameras used openly by police, ambulance officers and others named in the regulations. None of them helps a private person record other people secretly. 1
Can you record a phone call in Victoria?
Yes, if you are on the call. That makes you part of the conversation, and the same answer follows. 1
Commonwealth law adds a separate offence: intercepting a call while it is still crossing the network. 3
s 6(1) What the Commonwealth means by intercepting a call Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) 3
(1) For the purposes of this Act (other than Schedule 1), but subject to this section, interception of a communication passing over a telecommunications system consists of listening to or recording, by any means, such a communication in its passage over that telecommunications system without the knowledge of the person making the communication.
Timing is the whole difference. Recording the call once it has arrived at your phone is outside the Commonwealth ban. Catching it in transit is inside it, and carries up to 2 years in prison. 3
Can you share a recording in Victoria?
Being allowed to make a recording is not permission to publish it. Communicating or publishing a record of a private conversation is its own offence in Victoria, and it applies to a recording you were perfectly entitled to make. 1
s 11(1)–(2)(c) Sharing a recording is a separate offence Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) 1
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not knowingly communicate or publish a record or report of a private conversation or private activity that has been made as a direct or indirect result of the use of a listening device, an optical surveillance device or a tracking device. Penalty: In the case of a natural person, level 7 imprisonment (2 years maximum) or a level 7 fine (240 penalty units maximum) or both; In the case of a body corporate, 1200 penalty units. […] (2) Subsection (1) does not apply— (a) to a communication or publication made with the express or implied consent of each party to the private conversation or private activity; or (b) to a communication or publication that is no more than is reasonably necessary— (i) in the public interest; or (ii) for the protection of the lawful interests of the person making it; or (c) to a communication or publication in the course of legal proceedings or disciplinary proceedings; […]
The ways through most people can use are narrow. Everyone in the conversation can agree to you sharing it. You can share it where that goes no further than is reasonably necessary in the public interest, or to protect your own lawful interests. And you can share it in the course of legal or disciplinary proceedings. 1
Most other states let you hand a recording to someone who was in the conversation. Victoria’s exceptions do not include that. 1
Each of these offences carries up to $50,184 or 2 years in prison for an individual, and up to $250,920 for a company. 1
You have a recording in Victoria. What now?
Were you in the conversation? If you were, making the recording was lawful, and it stays lawful however you came to make it. If you were not, it was an offence unless every person in the conversation had agreed. 1
Sharing is judged on its own terms. Victoria restricts passing on a recording whether or not making it was lawful, so a clean recording does not come with a free hand. 1
Who you can give it to. Anyone, if everyone in the conversation agrees. A court or a disciplinary hearing. Or wider, where that goes no further than is reasonably necessary in the public interest or to protect your lawful interests. Handing it to someone who was simply present is not on the list. 1
The figures. Recording unlawfully and sharing unlawfully each carry up to $50,184 or 2 years in prison, or both, for an individual. A company faces up to $250,920. Those are 240 and 1,200 penalty units at the Victorian value of $209.10 a unit. 2
What it costs to get it wrong
Common questions
Is it legal to record a conversation without consent in Victoria?
Yes, if you're taking part in it. Victoria's ban only reaches recording a conversation you're not part of. As a participant you can record without telling the others, though sharing the recording is a separate matter. 1
Can you record a phone call in Victoria?
Yes, if you're on the call. Being on it makes you part of the conversation, so recording it is allowed. Intercepting a call that's still travelling across the network is a separate Commonwealth offence. 3
Is it illegal to record someone without them knowing in Victoria?
Only if you're not part of the conversation. Recording people you're not talking to, without their consent, is an offence carrying up to 2 years in prison for an individual. 1
Can I share a recording of a conversation in Victoria?
Only in the situations s 11(2) lists. Publishing or passing on a recording made with a listening device is its own offence, even one you were entitled to make, unless everyone consents, it's for legal proceedings, or it's reasonably needed to protect you or the public interest. 1
What is the penalty for illegally recording someone in Victoria?
Up to $50,184 or 2 years in prison for an individual, and up to $250,920 for a company. The same maximum applies to recording others unlawfully and to sharing a recording you shouldn't. 1
Every source on this page
The small numbered marks throughout this page point to this list — 1 means source 1 below.
- Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic), ss 3, 6, 11
- Victorian Treasurer's notice — penalty unit value 2026–27 ($209.10), Monetary Units Act 2004 (Vic) s 6
- Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth), ss 5F, 6, 7, 105
© State of Victoria. Sourced from the Victorian Legislation website at 7 Sept 2026. For the latest information on Victorian legislation please go to https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au. Reproduced without changes. This is not an official version — authorised versions are published at legislation.vic.gov.au.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 7 Sept 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Reproduced without changes. This is not an official version. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
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Recording conversations rules elsewhere
- Australian Capital Territory Legal, with conditions
- New South Wales Legal, with conditions
- Northern Territory Legal, with conditions
- Queensland Legal, with conditions
- South Australia Legal, with conditions
- Tasmania Legal, with conditions
- Western Australia Legal, with conditions
Page history
Every change to this page
- 23 Sept 2026
- First published. Current to the Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) Version 048 (as at 10 December 2025), and to the Victorian penalty unit value of $209.10 for 2026–27.