The small business CCTV rebate in Perth, run by the Small Business Development Corporation, funds internal CCTV for WA shops and customer-facing businesses. We supply the quote in the format the SBDC asks for, install to the program's technical specification with licensed technicians, and hand you the invoice and Cam-Map registration the claim needs.
Status, October 2026: the SBDC says applications will open soon, are assessed first-come on complete applications, and close once the funding pool is spent. Quotes must be dated after 6 October 2026. Great White Security is a licensed security installer and is not affiliated with the SBDC or Crime Stoppers WA; program rules are theirs and can change. Check the current terms at smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/cctv before relying on anything here.
The SBDC, with Crime Stoppers WA, will pay a retail or customer-facing small business back up to half the cost of a new or upgraded internal CCTV system, excluding GST, to a maximum of $2,000. The stated aim is fewer offences against small retailers and better evidence when something does happen: cameras on the door and the till, footage police can actually use.
Three things about the design of the program decide who gets the money. It is first-come, on the date and time a complete application is lodged. The pool is limited and the round closes when it is spent, split 75 per cent metro and 25 per cent regional. And the application cannot be lodged until you hold a valid quote from a licensed installer that spells out the required specification and carries the installer's licence number.
So the business that wins is the one with its paperwork and its quote ready on the day the gate opens. This page explains the rules as the SBDC has published them, what we do at each step, and what only you can do.
Typical fits in Perth: cafés and takeaways, bottle shops, pharmacies, newsagents, hair and beauty salons, gyms, vape and tobacco retailers, phone and computer repairers, pet shops, bakeries, small supermarkets and corner stores, vet clinics, physios and allied health rooms with a reception counter. If you take payment from the public across a counter, you are probably the business this program was written for.
The SBDC publishes a minimum technical standard, and the quote has to show the system meets it or the application is incomplete. Every line below is a condition of the program, and every line is how we build retail CCTV anyway.
| SBDC requirement | How a Great White install meets it |
|---|---|
| Hard-wired cameras, at least one covering the customer entrance and one covering the point of sale | Cabled PoE cameras on dedicated runs. The entrance camera is set for face capture at the door; the POS camera covers the register, drawer and counter surface, with POS text overlay where the recorder supports it. |
| Minimum 5 megapixel resolution on every camera | We quote cameras at or above 5MP across the whole system, not just the headline positions, and list the model and resolution of each on the quote. |
| Recorder with at least a 3 terabyte hard drive | Surveillance-grade drive of 3TB or larger, sized to the camera count and the retention you want. The drive capacity is printed on the quote and the invoice. |
| Infrared or low-light capability for night recording | Cameras with IR or full-colour low-light sensors, tested after the install with the shop lights off. |
| Time and date stamp on all recorded footage | Overlay enabled on every channel, recorder clock set to network time so the stamp stays accurate. |
| Footage exportable in a standard video format to a USB drive | Export tested on handover and your staff shown how to pull a clip to USB, because that is what WA Police will ask you for. |
| Installed by a Security Installer Licence holder from a business holding a Security Agent Licence | Our technicians are WA Police licensed. The licence number and name the SBDC asks for appear on the quote. |
| Registered on the WA Police Cam-Map before the claim | We give you the camera and recorder details in the form Cam-Map asks for, and walk you through the registration if you want. |
Brands we typically use for this work: Hikvision, Dahua and UniFi Protect. The SBDC does not endorse any brand, and neither do we insist on one; the system has to meet the specification, suit the shop and be something you will still be happy with in five years.
Two timing traps worth knowing. The SBDC recommends two or three quotes, so if you want ours to be one of them, ask early; a quote dated before 6 October 2026 cannot be used. And the 60-day install window runs from the pre-approval email, not from when you call us, so tell us the moment it arrives.
The rebate carries conditions beyond the hardware, and most of them are the same obligations any WA retailer with cameras already has under the Surveillance Devices Act 1998. Staff must be told in writing that surveillance is in place. Signage goes at every entrance so customers know recording is happening. No camera goes anywhere with a reasonable expectation of privacy: fitting rooms, toilets, change rooms. The field of view stays off neighbouring private property, and if a neighbour's premises are visible you tell them. Audio is heavily restricted in WA and most retail systems leave it off entirely.
After the rebate is paid, the system has to be kept working, footage has to be stored securely and provided to WA Police on request, records are kept for 12 months, and the SBDC may audit the installation, including a physical inspection. If conditions are not met the SBDC can recover the payment.
We design around all of this as standard: camera positions that cover the door and the till without looking into the salon next door, signage supplied with the install, and a handover sheet that records what was fitted so an auditor can match it to the invoice. Our guide to security camera laws in WA covers the legal side in more depth, and footage retention covers how long to keep recordings.
The program covers upgrades as well as new installs, which matters for the many Perth shops running an old analogue recorder with 1 or 2 megapixel cameras and a drive that has been overwriting itself every few days for years. An upgrade that replaces the cameras with 5MP units, fits a recorder with a 3TB or larger drive, adds the entrance and POS coverage and gets the time stamp and USB export working is a qualifying system, provided it is installed after pre-approval by a licensed installer.
What does not qualify: a system already installed before pre-approval, wireless or battery cameras, and anything installed by someone without a WA Class 2 security installer licence. If you are not sure which side of the line your current setup sits on, send us a photo of the recorder and a camera and we will tell you.
As of October 2026 the SBDC page says applications will open soon and offers a notify-me sign-up. It is assessed first-come on complete applications and closes when the funding pool is spent, so the useful work happens before the gate opens: eligibility checked, landlord consent in hand, SmartyGrants account created, and a compliant quote dated after 6 October 2026 ready to upload. Confirm the current status on the SBDC website before you rely on it.
Up to 50 per cent of the cost of a new or upgraded internal CCTV system, excluding GST, capped at $2,000. The SBDC sets the final amount at its discretion, it will not exceed the pre-approved figure if the job ends up costing more, and it can reduce if the final cost comes in under the quote.
A Western Australian retail or customer-facing business with a physical storefront or service location, fewer than 20 employees by headcount (owners, non-executive directors and contractors are not counted), an active ABN, GST registration, and no insolvency, administration or unresolved grant issues. Subsidiaries of groups with 20 or more staff in total are excluded, and government-owned properties are not eligible. One application per retail property.
No, and neither can anyone else. The SBDC requires the application to be submitted through SmartyGrants by a responsible person from the business itself: an owner, partner, director, manager or similar. Applications submitted by a third party, including suppliers and installers, are not accepted. What we can do is supply everything the application needs from the installer side: a quote in the format the SBDC asks for, with the technical specification and our licence details on it, then the tax invoice with specifications and the Cam-Map registration after the install.
Hard-wired cameras, with at least one covering the customer entrance and the point of sale. A minimum of 5 megapixels on every camera. A recorder with at least a 3 terabyte hard drive. Infrared or low-light capability for night recording. A time and date stamp on all footage. And footage that can be exported in a standard video format to a USB drive. Wireless and battery camera systems do not qualify.
Yes. The system must be installed by a current WA Security Installer Licence holder working for a business that holds a Security Agent Licence under the Security and Related Activities (Control) Act 1996. The SBDC asks for the licence number and name on the quote. DIY and unlicensed installs are not eligible.
Install within 60 days of the pre-approval email, with the system fully paid and a tax invoice listing the technical specifications in hand inside that window. Register the system on the WA Police Cam-Map and keep the confirmation email. Submit the Service Completion form within 14 days of the installation. If the SBDC asks for more information at any stage, you have five working days to respond.
No. The rebate applies only to new systems, or upgrades to an existing system, installed after pre-approval. Do not start the installation before the pre-approval email arrives; work done beforehand is not eligible.
Tell staff in writing that surveillance is in place, put clear signage at every entrance, keep cameras out of fitting rooms, toilets and change rooms, keep the field of view off neighbouring private property, keep the system working, provide footage to WA Police if they ask, keep records for 12 months after the rebate is paid, and take part in an audit or survey if selected. The SBDC says some installations will be physically inspected.
Tell us the shop, the address and whether you own or lease. We will visit, design a system to the SBDC specification and issue a quote in the format the application needs, so you are lodging a complete application on day one rather than chasing paperwork while the pool drains.