Enriching campus life with unified security at UNSW Sydney
Every day, thousands of people move through the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney. Learn how this university gained clearer security insights and sped up incident response.
The company
UNSW Sydney is one of Australia's leading universities, ranked in the top 20 worldwide. UNSW provides world-class education across seven faculties and 45 schools. It has seven main campuses in Kensington, Paddington, Greater Sydney and Canberra, as well as regional campuses and hubs. Over 82,000 students attend classes at UNSW, led by a diverse team of 8,318 staff.
The challenge
UNSW's outdated security system lacked advanced functionality. It couldn’t manage multiple campus locations with thousands of CCTV cameras. The analytics capabilities were too limited for proactive monitoring. This meant the security team could only use the system to review incidents after they happened. The system also had inefficient evidence storage and aging help point infrastructure. As a result, teams faced complicated workflows and slow response times.
The solution
Centralized campus monitoring
Cameras across multiple campuses now stream into a central control room. Transitioning to a single unified platform has reduced operational complexity. The security team also has better campus-wide visibility.
Enhanced emergency response
More than 30 upgraded help points provide live video and audio feeds. This lets operators assess and verify threats before security staff arrive on scene.
Digital evidence management
Genetec Clearance™ streamlines UNSW Sydney’s ability to share evidence with law enforcement. Security staff can compile video from cameras and body-worn devices, then securely email cases to NSW Police.
Scalable security infrastructure
Streamvault™ appliances manage and store video across campus locations with full system redundancy. The infrastructure also easily scales to let UNSW expand its system to other sites.
“Integrating the new help points within Security Center has assisted in accelerating incident response on campus. These devices allow the team to both see and hear what’s happening live at the scene, providing critical situational awareness and enabling faster, more informed decision-making during incidents.””
Melissa Fenech, Security Technical Services Manager at UNSW
Results
UNSW Sydney centralized its system in Security Center. All data from more than 2,500 cameras, 10 AutoVu™ ALPR cameras, and 30 help points now streams to a single control room. Security operators work from a unified view, able to quickly navigate between multiple cameras. This helps them locate subjects during live incidents or investigations. They can also respond to help point calls, all from the same place.
"We needed a user-friendly platform for both live and recorded footage that could integrate with our existing access control system. To ensure operational resilience, we also required full system redundancy, including a production and disaster recovery fleet of servers. Genetec’s flexibility, scalability, and broad capabilities make it an ideal fit for the complex and dynamic needs of a university environment,” said Fenech.