According to the Herald Sun, the Victoria State Road Administration will scan car plates entering gas stations, shopping malls and hospitals in an effort to control the theft of gasoline and forced gate breaks.
It is reported that the high-tech cameras will be installed in a number of places, a pilot test conducted by the Victoria State Road Administration, retailers believed to spend 20 million yuan a year to install the cameras.
The pilot program is believed to begin in the coming weeks. Approved users can obtain vehicle license plate details from a central database to help them find unruly drivers.
The cameras will record car license plates from hospitals, shopping malls and gas stations, reminding workers of petrol theft or non-payment of parking fines.
The fuel industry welcomed the trial, and the state police and justice department will prosecute the drivers.
Oil theft is generally a civil case. Some city hospitals charge $35 a day for parking, compared with $94 for a 60-liter tank in Melbourne over the weekend.
The pilot scheme is similar to the automatic license plate recognition technology used by the police to scan license plates.
The database allows police to quickly find drivers who have failed to pay fines or commit apparent violations and intercept them.
The pilot is still in its infancy, said Helen Lindner, director of licensing, certification, standards and solutions at the Victoria State Road Authority.
"the Victorian Road Service has set up a working group to work with the Victorian Police, the judiciary, the State Bureau of Crime Statistics and the National Council for the reduction of Automobile Crime to investigate the abuse and theft of licences."
In 2013, the state police made a highly controversial decision that they would not investigate oil theft unless there was clear evidence that the driver had deliberately refrained from paying the fee.
This led to gas stations having to go to court to prosecute the drivers.
Some gas stations even cost 75000 yuan to install cameras and license plate recognition technology.
Nearly 20,000 licences are stolen every year in Victoria, costing tens of thousands of dollars to replace them. Stolen licences are used to avoid charges and crimes.