Australia Embraces Technocracy with Biometric Employee Time and Attendance System

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
December 11, 2011


In the global race to see which industrialized nation will lead the way in the implementation of the most oppressive police state the world has ever known, Australia has been making silent but steady gains for years. With those aware of the march toward totalitarianism usually preoccupied with the developments in the United States and the UK, Australia can often go overlooked. Yet, not to be outdone, the land down under has managed to enact carbon taxes, militarize police, end gun ownership, and rival even England in terms of forced political correctness. Although Australia might not be the leader of the pack, it refuses to be left out.

Every now and then, there are signs that Australia is attempting to take a brief lead over both of its fascist national comrades. For instance, in an article published in the Sunday Telegraph on December 4, 2011, Rosie Squires describes how many Australian employers are introducing a fingerprinting program in order to monitor employees and “save costs.”

The new fingerprint scanners will be taking the place of time clocks, trust, responsible hiring, and, apparently, competent supervisors. No longer will the employees of companies such as Qantas, Dan Murphy’s, Breville, and Unomedical be able to clock in and out of work in the traditional manner. In order to prevent employees from “arriving late or slacking off,” the workers will now be forced to render some of their most private information to their employer via the new scanners.

The new technology, PeopleKey, will be used not only to clock employees on their way in and out, but also to monitor their progress over the course of the workday, as well as other potential incidents of “slacking off” like using the bathroom or daring to engage a fellow employee in conversation.

A spokesman for Dan Murphy’s, a chain of liquor stores, stated, “Like many major retailers, Dan Murphy’s has found electronic clocking in and out to be a reliable method of recording staff hours, as well as enabling store managers to know which team members are on site for health and safety purposes.”






He continues, saying, “Staff who are significantly late may have the time deducted from their pay or, at the manager’s discretion, can choose to make up the time.”

RailCorp, another company who is implementing PeopleKey, has actually achieved an agreement with employees (more likely “representatives” of the employees) for the use of the new program in exchange for a pay raise.

In the case of RailCorp, another spokesman stated,

When it is in place, staff will verify their attendance by way of a swipe card and finger scan. The scans themselves are stored as mathematical algorithms rather than images.

This initiative will streamline and simplify our time and attendance processes, eventually eliminating the need for staff to manually record their time at work on paper timesheets or in attendance books.

This will result in reduced administration requirements and more accurate payments to staff.

Frank Bruce, the CEO of PeopleKey, is quoted by Rosie Squires as saying that many of his clients have purchased the finger scanning system as a way to crack down on “buddy punching,” a situation where workers clock in for their fellow employees.

Bruce said, “In some instances employees are not honest and some businesses have problems monitoring attendance.” He also indicated that PeopleKey has “about 1500 installations in Australia” although he did not disclose any of the locations or clients.

Of course, the employees shouldn’t worry. After all, private companies would never share, sell, or otherwise use private information that could be worth vast amounts of money. They never have in the past, right?

Not only that, but, if the employees have nothing to hide, why should they be concerned about the scanners? They shouldn’t be slacking off or coming in late to begin with, right?

There’s nothing wrong or illegal about private companies forcing their employees to give this information over to them on condition of employment -- if they don’t want to give it up, they can always work for someone else. They can let the free market handle the issue, right?

Unfortunately, this is the attitude that is held by a great many Australians, British, and Americans who are being constantly reminded through their media and their government that they, too, will soon be scanning their fingerprints in order to access basic services or necessities . . . like food.

The ability to rationalize oppression using the arguments about having nothing to hide, free markets, and corporate morality should never be underestimated.

I have written numerous articles dealing with the technocratic society being ushered in gradually with each passing day. See here and here. I have recently written about the introduction of vein scanners already popular in Japan and awaiting introduction to the United States, as well as the Google Wallet smartphone app being used by New Jersey Transit.

Indeed, the technologically enhanced police state has been covered at length not just by my own work, but that of many others. What hasn’t been covered, however, is the resistance to such a society.

Unfortunately, although it is growing, the resistance to the technocratic control system is still terribly small when compared to the vast amount of people who are willing to accept it.

Regardless, the resistance must begin to take shape quickly. Dissenting voices need to speak up and they need to do it now. These voices need to be heard, and in order for that to happen they are going to have to speak loudly and forcefully. If they don’t, there might not be much hope left. Time is running out and the scientific dictatorship is gaining steam with every day that we remain silent.