+61 406 432 691
Mon–Sat 8am–6pm
Licensed & Insured
Free Onsite Quote
Melbourne & Mornington Peninsula
Station Security Experts

Protect Your Petrol Station From Theft & Conflict

We install reliable cameras and alarms for petrol stations in Melbourne. Stop fuel theft, protect your staff, and monitor your pumps from your phone.

From number plate recognition at the pumps to silent panic alarms for your staff — we design, install, and support complete security systems built specifically for Melbourne petrol stations.

Schedule Your Service

Call +61 406 432 691 or complete the form and we will contact you.

Our Services

Comprehensive Security for Your Pumps & Shop

Protect every inch of your station. From the fuel island to the back office, we provide the systems you need to run safely.

Plate Cam

Number Plate Recognition

Cameras that capture clear licence plate details, even at night. Essential for identifying vehicles during drive-offs and providing evidence to police.

Pump View

Fuel Island Cams

Wide-angle cameras that cover every pump island. Monitor fuel delivery and customer behaviour from any location, at any time of day or night.

Alarms

Staff Panic Buttons

Wireless silent alarms for staff. Provides immediate notification to monitoring and a strong deterrent for shop conflict, robbery, or theft situations.

Shop Care

Internal Monitoring

Monitor stock and registers with clear indoor cameras. Helps reduce shoplifting, manage staff safety, and resolve disputes with timestamped footage.

Live App

Monitor from Anywhere

Watch your station on your phone. See live feeds and receive instant alerts wherever you are — whether you are on-site, at home, or interstate.

Installation

Professional Setup

Full installation by licensed professionals. We ensure all blind spots are covered, systems are correctly configured, and your team knows how to use everything.

Protect Your Profit

Reduce Loss From Fuel Theft

Drive-offs cost Melbourne stations thousands every year.

Fuel theft and drive-offs are major risks to your station’s bottom line. Our specialised cameras capture clear licence plate and vehicle details the moment they enter your site — giving you the evidence you need and the deterrence that prevents incidents in the first place.

Clear footage for police and insurance
Instant alerts for suspected vehicles
Reliable night-vision for 24/7 coverage
Secure Your Pumps
Advanced CCTV cameras for petrol station security in Melbourne — SIPKO Security
Plate Recognition & Night Vision Clear evidence for every drive-off, day or night.
Why Choose Us

Why Melbourne Station Owners Work With Us

No call-centre surprises. Just clear quotes, professional installation, and local Melbourne support for your business — from a team that actually picks up the phone.

End-to-End Service

Design, hardware, installation, and setup of remote access — all handled by our local team for your station. One point of contact from quote to go-live.

Local Melbourne Experts

Based in Melbourne with a strong focus on Bayside and South-East suburbs. No offshore switchboards or call-centre surprises — just local knowledge and fast response.

Direct Support

Owner-operated service where the person who installs your system is the one who answers your call. Real responsibility — not a ticket number.

The Process

How We Secure Your Site

01

Call / Quote

Tell us your needs. We provide a clear quote based on your site type, camera count, and wiring complexity — no hidden costs.

02

Site Assessment & Plan

We check entry points, lighting, and camera angles to build a practical security plan tailored to your station’s layout.

03

Installation & Setup

Professional mounting and configuration. We tune your cameras, alerts, and remote viewing on site before we leave.

04

Handover & Support

We show you the app controls and remain available for any future adjustments or health checks — long after installation day.

Expert Maintenance

Health Checks, Servicing & System Upgrades

Security hardware is not “set and forget”. Our technicians maintain your existing systems, ensuring they stay reliable and ready to protect your station every shift.

Camera Support

CCTV Health Check

We clean lenses, check hard drives, and update software to ensure your footage is sharp and ready for review. We also fix faulty feeds and tidy messy cabling that can cause dropouts.

Alarm Support

Security Alarms

We replace batteries, test sensors, and update codes so your alarm works smoothly during every shift change. Ideal for pump and store protection across all station types.

Access Care

Intercom Systems

From audio issues at the pump to gate buzzers that won’t respond, we diagnose and fix intercom faults across Melbourne stations — quickly and without unnecessary call-outs.

🔧
Ongoing Support, Not Just Installation

Most security failures happen because systems are never serviced after installation. We offer scheduled health checks so your cameras, alarms, and intercoms are always working — not just on day one.

⛽ Drive-Off Reality

Drive-Offs & The Real Cost to Your Station

Fuel theft is not a minor inconvenience — it is a documented, recurring cost that hits independent operators hardest. Understanding what it actually costs and what evidence police need is the first step to stopping it.

What a Drive-Off Actually Costs You

The Direct Fuel Cost

Every drive-off is a direct loss at your wholesale fuel cost — not the retail price. On a full tank of premium unleaded, that is a real, unrecoverable expense that comes straight off your margin. Multiply that across multiple incidents per week and the annual figure becomes significant for any independent operator.

No specific government figure is available for per-incident costs. Industry body estimates exist but are not independently verified — we have not cited them here.

Staff Time & Disruption

Reporting a drive-off to Victoria Police takes time — noting the vehicle details, completing the online report, and following up if police request footage. For a busy station, this disrupts operations and pulls staff away from serving customers. Without a plate recognition camera, the report is often filed with insufficient detail to pursue.

Retail Theft Is at a 21-Year High in Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ most recent Recorded Crime data shows that other theft — which includes retail theft — increased to the highest number recorded in 21 years, with almost half of all incidents occurring in retail locations. Petrol stations are classified as retail environments under this data.

Source: ABS Recorded Crime — Victims, latest release. Figures are national and indicative only.

What Victoria Police Need to Pursue a Case

According to Victoria Police’s official guidance on petrol station drive-offs, when reporting fuel theft after the offender has left, you should provide:

1
The offender’s age, appearance, and clothing
2
Vehicle make, model, colour, and registration number
3
The date and time the theft occurred
4
The type of fuel taken
5
Whether CCTV footage is available

Without a plate recognition camera, items 2 and 5 are almost always incomplete or missing entirely — which significantly reduces the chance of police being able to identify and pursue the offender.

Victoria Police — Report Fuel Theft Online

What a Plate Recognition Camera Changes

Clear registration number captured at entry — before fuel is dispensed
Vehicle make, model, and colour recorded automatically
Timestamped footage ready to attach to a Victoria Police online report
Night-vision footage usable even in low-light forecourt conditions
Evidence that meets the standard Victoria Police request for CCTV
Deterrence — visible cameras reduce the likelihood of an attempt
📋
The report is only as good as the evidence behind it

Victoria Police can only act on a drive-off report if the vehicle details are clear and complete. A plate recognition camera is the single most effective tool for providing that evidence — and for deterring the attempt in the first place. We install and configure these systems specifically for Melbourne petrol station forecourts.

👷 Staff Safety

Protecting Your Team During High-Risk Moments

Petrol stations are among the highest-risk retail environments for staff confrontation. The right security setup does not just record incidents — it deters them, and gives your team a way to call for help without escalating a situation.

⚠️ A 2023 SDA survey of over 4,600 Australian retail and fast food workers — cited by WorkSafe Victoria — found that 87% had experienced verbal abuse from a customer, with more than half reporting this happened on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. WorkSafe Victoria also notes that 37% of workers report being sworn at or yelled at in the workplace. Petrol station staff are on the front line of this problem.

Security Measures That Protect Your Staff

Panic Buttons at the Register & Pump Console

Wireless panic buttons mounted under the counter and at the pump console allow staff to trigger a silent alert without any visible action. The aggressor has no idea help has been called. Alerts go simultaneously to the monitoring center and your designated contacts — response begins while the situation is still manageable.

Camera Placement That Deters Before It Escalates

Visible cameras at the register, entrance, and pump area change behaviour before a confrontation starts. Most people who might become aggressive reconsider when they can see they are being recorded. Camera placement is as much about deterrence as it is about evidence — and we design both into every installation.

Silent Alarm Routing to Monitoring

When a panic button is pressed, no siren sounds and no visible alert appears in the store. The alert goes silently to the professional monitoring center, which can dispatch security or contact police — without the person causing the threat knowing that help is already on the way.

Your Obligations as an Employer

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Victoria), employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment so far as is reasonably practicable. WorkSafe Victoria’s guidance on work-related violence and aggression identifies several practical control measures employers should consider:

Identifying and assessing the risk of violence and aggression in the workplace
Implementing physical controls — including CCTV and duress alarms
Ensuring staff know how to respond and who to contact in an incident
Reviewing and updating controls when the risk changes

A professionally installed CCTV and panic alarm system directly supports these obligations and demonstrates that practical steps have been taken to manage the risk.

WorkSafe Victoria — Violence & Aggression Toolkit

How Footage Protects Staff in Disputed Incidents

When a customer makes a complaint against a staff member — or when a staff member is accused of something that did not happen — timestamped CCTV footage is the clearest way to resolve the dispute quickly and fairly. It protects your employees from false accusations just as readily as it documents genuine misconduct. For staff working alone on night shifts, knowing that every interaction is recorded provides a level of protection that no policy document can match.

🛡️
Your staff deserve more than a policy document

A panic button under the counter and cameras that cover the register and entrance are practical, immediate measures that make a real difference to the people working your shifts. We design and install these systems specifically for petrol station environments — so your team has real protection, not just a procedure to follow.

Night Vision Active

Professional cameras maintain clear, usable footage across your entire forecourt — even at 2am with no ambient light.

6pm 9pm 12am 2am 4am 6am
Night Shift Coverage

When Your Station Is Most Vulnerable

Late-night and overnight shifts are when most fuel theft, vandalism, and confrontations occur. The forecourt lighting that looks adequate at 8pm creates deep shadows by midnight — and standard cameras that perform well in daylight often produce footage that is too dark, too grainy, or too blurry to identify anyone.

IR Night Vision — Reliable in Total Darkness

Infrared cameras use invisible IR light to illuminate the scene. The footage is black and white but sharp and detailed — clear enough to read a number plate or identify a face even with no ambient light at all. Essential for pump islands and car park areas away from overhead lighting.

Colour Night Vision — Detail That Matters

Colour night vision cameras use a larger sensor and wider aperture to capture full-colour footage in very low light — without IR illuminators. The result is footage that shows clothing colour, vehicle colour, and skin tone clearly. For a drive-off or confrontation, colour footage is significantly more useful to police than black and white.

Motion-Triggered Lighting Integration

When a camera detects motion in a dark area of the forecourt, it can trigger flood lighting automatically — illuminating the scene for both the camera and anyone watching live. This combination of detection, lighting, and recording is the most effective deterrent for late-night approaches to the pump island or rear of the building.

Why standard cameras fail at 2am: Consumer-grade cameras are designed and tested in normal lighting conditions. At night, they compensate for low light by increasing exposure time — which creates motion blur on moving vehicles and people. The result is footage that shows something happened but cannot identify who did it. Professional cameras with proper night-vision technology are designed specifically to avoid this.
Forecourt Layout

Where Cameras Go on a Melbourne Servo

Camera placement on a petrol station is not guesswork. Each position has a specific job. Here is exactly where cameras mount on a typical Melbourne servo and what each one needs to capture.

🎯
The single most important camera position on your site

The driveway entry camera — mounted at the right height and angle to capture the front number plate of every vehicle entering the site — is the foundation of your entire security system. Without a clear plate at entry, every other camera on the site is less useful. A drive-off without a readable plate is almost impossible to pursue. We position this camera first and build the rest of the layout around it.

1

Driveway Entry — Plate Capture

Critical

Mounted at bonnet height (roughly 1.2–1.5m) on a post or wall at the entry point, angled directly at the front plate of incoming vehicles. The camera needs to be close enough to read the plate clearly, with the right lens to avoid distortion. This is the camera that makes or breaks a drive-off report to Victoria Police.

2

Driveway Exit — Rear Plate Capture

Critical

A second plate camera at the exit captures the rear plate of every vehicle leaving. On a drive-off, the vehicle may have entered with a stolen front plate — the rear plate is often the one that leads police to the registered owner. Two plate cameras, entry and exit, is the standard we recommend for every Melbourne servo.

3

Each Pump Island — Wide Coverage

High Priority

One camera per pump island, mounted on the canopy above, angled to cover the full island including both sides of the pump. The goal is to see which pump was used, which vehicle was at it, and the behaviour of the person fuelling. On a busy servo with four or more islands, this typically means four or more cameras — one per island, not one covering the whole forecourt.

4

Shop Entrance — Face Capture

High Priority

Mounted above the shop door at face height (2.2–2.5m), angled slightly downward to capture a clear face shot of every person entering. This is the camera that identifies a shoplifter or someone involved in a confrontation. Height matters — too high and you get the top of a cap, not a face.

5

Register & Counter Area

High Priority

A camera covering the register from behind the counter, capturing both the staff member and the customer during every transaction. This is the camera that resolves disputed transactions, documents confrontations, and protects staff from false accusations. It also covers the cash drawer and any panic button mounted under the counter.

6

Back Office & Safe Area

Standard

A camera covering the safe, cash counting area, and back office door. This position is primarily for internal accountability during shift handovers and cash management — and for documenting any forced entry through the back of the building.

7

Car Wash (if applicable)

Standard

A camera at the car wash entry captures the plate of every vehicle using the wash — useful for disputed charges, equipment damage claims, and the occasional drive-off from the wash bay. If the car wash is automated and unattended, this camera is the only record of who used it.

Every Melbourne servo is different — the number of pump islands, the driveway layout, and the shop footprint all affect where cameras go. We visit your site before quoting so the camera plan is based on your actual forecourt, not a generic template.
Prevention vs Deterrence

Pre-Pay vs Camera Deterrence — What Actually Works

Some Melbourne stations have moved to pre-pay. Others rely on cameras. Neither is perfect on its own. Here is a plain comparison to help independent operators make the right call for their site.

Option A

Pre-Pay at the Pump

Pre-pay eliminates drive-offs entirely — you cannot take fuel you have not paid for. It is the only approach that prevents the loss rather than just documenting it. But it comes with real trade-offs for busy independent operators.

What works

Completely eliminates fuel theft — no payment, no fuel
Reduces staff stress around confronting drive-off suspects
Works well for unmanned or overnight-only sites

The trade-offs

Many customers dislike pre-pay and will go to a competitor that does not require it — particularly for regular customers who fill up quickly and leave
Requires pump hardware upgrades that carry a significant upfront cost
Does not address shoplifting, staff confrontations, or vandalism — which are separate and equally common problems
On a busy forecourt, pre-pay can slow throughput and create queues at the register
Option B

Camera Deterrence

A well-positioned plate recognition camera at the entry does two things: it deters most would-be drive-offs before they happen, and it provides the evidence police need when one does occur. For most busy Melbourne servos, this is the more practical approach.

What works

No change to the customer experience — fuel first, pay after, as normal
Visible cameras deter the majority of opportunistic drive-offs before they happen
The same system covers shoplifting, staff safety, vandalism, and shift disputes — not just fuel theft
Lower upfront cost than a full pre-pay hardware upgrade

The trade-offs

Does not prevent a determined drive-off — it deters and documents, but cannot physically stop someone who has decided to steal
Effectiveness depends on camera quality and placement — a poorly positioned camera produces footage that is useless to police

How Pre-Pay and Cameras Work Together

The most effective approach for a Melbourne servo is not either/or — it is both, applied strategically. Many operators use pre-pay during overnight hours when the site is unstaffed or running on a single person, and revert to normal operation during busy daytime periods when throughput matters. Cameras run 24 hours regardless.

In this setup, the camera system handles the daytime deterrence and evidence role, while pre-pay handles the overnight risk without the customer experience trade-off that comes with requiring pre-pay during peak hours. The plate recognition camera at the entry is the constant — it is always recording, always deterring, and always ready to support a police report when needed.

Most Melbourne operators choose cameras first

For an independent servo that wants to protect revenue without changing the customer experience, a properly installed plate recognition system is the practical starting point. We can talk through whether pre-pay makes sense for your specific site when we visit for the free assessment.

Delivery Security

Protecting Your Site During Tanker Drops

Fuel deliveries are one of the most overlooked security vulnerabilities on a petrol station. The tanker blocks part of the forecourt, staff attention shifts to managing the delivery, and the timing is predictable — the same supplier, roughly the same day each week. That predictability is a risk.

⚠️ During a tanker drop, your staff are focused on the delivery process. The shop may be unattended or understaffed. Customers know the forecourt is disrupted. This is when opportunistic shoplifting, pump skipping, and even deliberate distraction theft are most likely to occur.
Camera coverage of the delivery area. A camera covering the tanker bay and fill point records the entire delivery — the tanker arrival, the connection, the fill, and the departure. If a delivery dispute arises over quantity or product type, the footage is the clearest record of what actually happened on site.
Shop and forecourt coverage during the drop. While one camera watches the delivery, the rest of your system continues monitoring the shop entrance, register, and pump islands. A delivery is not a reason for your security coverage to have a gap — it is a reason to make sure there are no gaps.
Remote monitoring during deliveries. If you are not on site during a delivery, your phone app gives you a live view of the forecourt. You can watch the drop in real time and receive an alert if anything unusual happens — without needing to be physically present.
Timestamped footage for delivery disputes. Disputes with fuel suppliers over delivered quantity, product contamination, or delivery timing are not common — but when they happen, they can be costly and difficult to resolve without independent evidence. Footage of the delivery provides a timestamped record that is independent of both parties.

Delivery Disputes — What Footage Resolves

When a dispute arises with a supplier or insurer, footage provides an independent record that neither party can argue with.

Supplier claims full delivery was made — footage shows actual fill time and tanker departure
Product contamination claim — footage documents which tanker delivered and when
Damage to forecourt during delivery — footage shows exactly what happened and who was responsible
Insurance claim for incident during delivery window — footage confirms the sequence of events
Shop Coverage

Internal Camera Coverage for the Convenience Store

The shop attached to your servo is a separate theft risk from the pumps. Shoplifting, register disputes, and staff incidents all happen inside — and they all need their own camera coverage to be properly documented.

Shop Entrance

Face-height camera above the door. Captures every person entering — the most important identification shot in the shop.

Register & Counter

Covers both the staff member and the customer during every transaction. Resolves disputed change, confrontations, and false complaints.

Cigarette Cabinet

High-value, high-theft. A dedicated camera covering the tobacco cabinet is standard on any well-designed servo shop layout.

Alcohol Section

The second highest-value theft area in most servo shops. Wide-angle coverage of the fridge and shelf area catches concealment before the person reaches the exit.

🕳️ Eliminating Aisle Blind Spots

Most servo shops are small but have enough shelving to create blind spots from the register. A staff member behind the counter cannot see every aisle at once — and shoplifters know this. A camera positioned at the end of each aisle, or a wide-angle camera covering the full shop floor, removes those blind spots entirely. The goal is not to watch every customer — it is to make sure there is no corner of the shop where someone can act without being recorded.

📋 Evidence for Staff Disputes & Insurance

Internal cameras do more than catch shoplifters. When a customer claims they were shortchanged, the register camera resolves it in seconds. When a staff member is accused of something that did not happen, the footage clears them. When an insurance claim is lodged for stock loss, timestamped footage of the relevant period supports the claim. A well-covered shop interior is as much about protecting your staff and your insurance position as it is about catching theft.

🏪
The shop and the forecourt need separate camera plans

Most security quotes for petrol stations focus on the forecourt and miss the shop entirely — or treat it as an afterthought with one wide-angle camera that covers nothing properly. We design the shop coverage as a separate layer, with specific positions for the register, high-value stock, and entrance, so every area has a camera that is actually useful.

Multi-Site Operators

Monitor All Your Stations From One App

If you own or manage more than one servo across Melbourne’s south-east, you should not need to drive between sites to know what is happening. A properly set up system lets you watch every site, receive alerts, and review footage from your phone — wherever you are.

All Sites in One App

Switch between your Brighton site, your Caulfield site, and your Dandenong site with a single tap. Live feeds, recorded footage, and alarm status for every location in one place — no separate logins, no separate apps.

Motion Alerts by Site

Set alert rules per site — so a motion alert from the pump island at your overnight-only site wakes you up, but routine customer movement at your busy daytime site does not. Each location has its own alert schedule.

Footage Review Across Locations

If a drive-off is reported at one site while you are at another, you can pull up the entry camera footage on your phone within seconds — without leaving the counter. No need to wait until you physically visit the site.

Staff Accountability Across Sites

For operators with staff across multiple locations, remote camera access means you can check in on any site at any time — without it being a formal visit. Most staff perform better knowing the owner can see the register camera from their phone.

Multi-Site Operators

Monitor All Your Stations From One App

If you own or manage more than one servo, you should not need to be physically present at each site to know what is happening. A properly set up system lets you watch live feeds, review footage, and receive alerts across all your locations from a single app on your phone — whether you are at one of the sites, at home, or interstate.

Live Feeds Across All Sites

Switch between your Brighton site and your Frankston site in seconds. Watch the forecourt, the shop, and the pump islands at any location in real time — all from the same app screen.

Motion Alerts by Site

Set alerts per location so you know which site triggered an event. A motion alert at 2am tells you the site address, not just that something happened somewhere.

Footage Review Without Being On-Site

A drive-off at your Moorabbin site while you are at your Cheltenham site. Pull up the footage on your phone, find the plate, and file the Victoria Police online report — without driving across town.

Consistent Setup Across All Sites

When all your sites use the same camera system and app, managing them is straightforward. Same interface, same footage format, same alert logic — no learning a different system for each location.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the questions Melbourne servo operators ask us most often before booking a site assessment.

How many cameras does a typical Melbourne petrol station need?
It depends on the size of the site, but a typical Melbourne servo with four pump islands, a convenience store, and a single driveway entry usually needs between 8 and 14 cameras. That covers entry and exit plate capture, one camera per pump island, shop entrance, register, cigarette cabinet, and back office. We count the exact positions during the free site visit — there is no standard number that fits every site.
Can I use my existing cameras and just add to the system?
Sometimes, yes. If your existing cameras are IP-based and produce usable footage, we can often integrate them into a new NVR and app setup. The honest answer is that most older servo cameras we see produce footage that is too low-resolution to read a number plate or identify a face — which defeats the purpose. We will tell you plainly during the site visit which cameras are worth keeping and which are not.
What happens to the footage if the internet goes down?
Cameras record to a local NVR (network video recorder) on site regardless of internet connectivity. The internet connection is only needed for remote viewing on your phone and for cloud backup. If the internet drops, recording continues uninterrupted on the local drive. You just cannot watch it remotely until the connection is restored. We configure local storage with enough capacity to cover several days of continuous recording.
How long is footage stored, and can police access it directly?
We typically configure 30 days of local storage as a minimum for petrol stations — enough to cover most insurance and police investigation timelines. Police cannot access your system directly; you provide them with a copy of the relevant footage, either as a file export or by showing them the footage on site. We show you how to do this during handover so you are ready when it is needed.
Will the cameras work at night on the forecourt?
Yes — but only if the right cameras are specified for each position. The plate capture cameras at the driveway entry need IR or colour night vision to produce usable footage after dark. The pump island cameras need to handle the mixed lighting from the canopy. We select cameras based on the actual lighting conditions at each position on your site, not a one-size-fits-all spec.
How do I report a drive-off to Victoria Police?
Victoria Police has an online reporting service specifically for petrol station fuel theft. You report after the offender has left, providing the vehicle registration, make, model, colour, and the date and time of the theft. If you have CCTV footage, note that in the report — police may follow up to request it. The online report is at police.vic.gov.au/petrol-station-drive-offs. A plate recognition camera makes this report significantly more complete and actionable.
How long does installation take and will it disrupt my trading?
A typical petrol station installation takes one to two days depending on the number of cameras and the cabling complexity. We schedule work to minimise disruption — forecourt cameras are usually installed during quieter trading periods, and the shop cameras can often be done without closing. We confirm the schedule with you before booking so there are no surprises on the day.
Do you service and maintain the system after installation?
Yes. We offer scheduled health checks, lens cleaning, hard drive checks, and software updates to keep your system performing correctly. If a camera develops a fault, you call us directly — not a call centre. For petrol stations, we recommend a check every six to twelve months given the forecourt environment, dust, and weather exposure.
Melbourne Petrol Station Security

Book a Free Site Assessment

We visit your servo, walk the forecourt, and give you a clear quote — no obligation, no call centre, no guesswork. Just a practical plan for your specific site.

Free Site Visit
Local Melbourne Team
Plate Recognition Specialists
Ongoing Maintenance Available

Related Resources

Further services and reading relevant to Melbourne business security.