Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles Thursday announced that Australia will strip Chinese-made security cameras from government buildings amid fears that the cameras pose a security risk.

The move comes after Shadow Cyber Security Minister James Paterson conducted an audit which revealed that nearly 1000 units of surveillance equipment manufactured by Chinese-linked companies Hikvision and Dahua were installed in Australian departments and agencies. Similar equipment manufactured by the two companies has been banned by the US and Great Britain. Without providing a timeline, Marles promised that “where those particular cameras are found, they’re going to be removed”. “I don’t think we should overstate it,” Marles cautioned, “but I think it is right to be doing the assessment…”

Hikvision labelled the accusations against it as “categorically false” and claimed that its products “are compliant with all applicable Australian laws and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements.” Those who seek to ban equipment from the Chinese-linked companies, however, cited concerns that surveillance data could be collected and shared with the Chinese government. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director Mike Burgess stated that the data collected by Hikvision and Dahua cameras “and where it would end up and what else it could be used for would be of great concern to me and my agency.”

Calls to ban equipment manufactured by Hikvision and Dahua have also cited moral concerns that both companies have been implicated in human rights abuses and mass surveillance of Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang.