Hardware
Solar camera units built to our own specification, with night vision, speaker, siren and strobe.
Security Technology With A Licensed Person Behind Every Alert
Salus Defence is building solar camera units, on-camera AI and the software that connects them. Every alert will go to a licensed operator who watches live and speaks through the site speaker.
First sites planned for Victoria in 2027.
Salus Defence is a security technology company based in Melbourne. We specify our own camera units, write our own software and will train our own detection models. Live guarding for construction, commercial and industrial sites is the first product we are launching. More sensors and automation will follow on the same platform.
AI
Detection that runs on the camera, trained over time on our own labelled events from Victorian sites.
Software
A platform that carries each alert to an operator, and a portal where clients see live view, history and reports.
Sites Are Exposed After Hours
A typical theft happens between 1 am and 5 am. The intruder believes nobody is watching, cuts a fence or forces a container, and leaves with tools, copper, materials or plant.
- A$75.5mHand and power tools reported stolen in Victoria, year to June 2026
- A$31.8mTimber and building materials reported stolen in the same year
- +55%Rise in recorded theft at Victorian construction sites since 2017
- 6,800Victorian sites we estimate need better protection, four in five of them in Melbourne
MelbourneBallaratBendigoMildura
What Sites Use Today
- Overnight guardOne person covering one area, at A$5,390 to A$7,350 a week for a 14-hour night.
- Mobile patrolOn site for minutes at a time, on a pattern thieves can watch.
- Hired cameras or towersThey record the theft, and nobody is there to stop it.
- Towers with recorded warningsAutomated messages and sirens that intruders learn to ignore, with no person to judge what is happening.
- Alarm monitoringBuilt for buildings instead of open yards, and often slow and unverified.
- Salus Live GuardingA licensed operator watching live, speaking to the person on site and calling police.
Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, recorded offences and property items, year ending June 2026. Melbourne guard rates, October 2026. The 6,800 sites figure is our own estimate, and the map is an illustration of where those sites are concentrated.
Why Now
Cameras now run detection on the device, solar and lithium iron phosphate batteries run them without mains, and two mobile networks carry alerts and live talk-back from any site. Most security systems sold to Australian businesses still predate this.
- A$280,000+The yearly cost of one overnight guard, up to A$382,000, after award wages rose 4.75% on 1 July 2026
- 3x+Copper theft has more than tripled since 2022
- 16,239Victorian dwelling commencements in the June quarter 2026, the highest since March 2023
- A$242bNational public infrastructure pipeline over five years
Fair Work pay guides, July 2026. Crime Statistics Agency Victoria. ABS Building Activity, June quarter 2026. Infrastructure Australia market capacity report, 2025. Overseas, live monitored camera services already run at scale, with one US provider reporting more than 170,000 monitored cameras.
Who It Is For
Builders, yard operators and businesses that keep valuable equipment and stock in the open overnight. These are our estimates of the Victorian sites we are building for.
One Alert, From Start To Finish. The site and times are an example.
The Camera Sees A Person
AI on the camera picks out people and vehicles in the armed zones. Animals, shadows, rain and headlights are filtered out before anything is sent.
The Alert Leaves The Site
The alert and a short clip travel over an encrypted link on two mobile networks. No ports are open on site, so the cameras cannot be reached from the internet.
A Licensed Operator Watches Live
The operator sees the live view with the site plan and the list of authorised people. Contracts will set 90% of alerts viewed within 60 seconds.
The Operator Speaks To Them
This site is monitored by licensed security. You are being recorded. You need to leave now.
Spoken live through the site speaker. Contracts will set 90% of talk-downs within two minutes.
Strobe, Siren And Police
The strobe and siren follow. If they are still there two minutes after the first warning, the operator calls Triple Zero as a witness, stays on camera and rings the keyholders.
The Operator Stays With It
Once the person has gone, the operator keeps watching for ten minutes in case they come back. Every action is logged with its time.
Everything Is Reported
The client gets a plain report of the night with times, actions and clips, and an evidence pack for police and insurers on request.
What Will Be Available
Equipment is hired and never sold, so clients have no capital outlay and Salus keeps control of its quality. Nothing can be ordered until our licence is granted.
- Every alert in armed hours answered by a licensed operator: live verification, talk-down, strobe and siren, police call, keyholder notice and a logged outcome.
- Solar-powered 4G units with on-camera AI, night vision, speaker, siren and strobe. Maintained and replaced by Salus.
- Risk walk, camera design, installation, commissioning and a signed walk test before the site goes live.
- A report of every overnight event by 7 am, and on request a tamper-evident evidence pack for police and insurers.
- Live view, event history, clips, reports, arming schedule and authorised contacts.
- Detection trained on our own verified events to cut false alerts further.
- More camera and sensor types, then automated and drone-based services for larger sites.
- AI person and vehicle detection
- Live verification by a licensed operator
- Talk-down through the site speaker
- Strobe and siren, operated live
- Night vision and continuous recording
- Solar power with no mains connection
- Health, battery, signal and tamper alerts
- Morning report of all overnight activity
Salus Defence will not provide guards on site, mobile patrols, armed response or any physical intervention, and it will not sell equipment.
One System From Camera To Report
We own the parts that set the quality: the camera specification, the software that carries each alert and the data that will train our own models.
Camera Units
Solar-powered, with night vision, speaker, siren and strobe. They run with no mains connection.
On-Camera AI
Person and vehicle detection runs on the camera, so alerts are still raised when the signal drops and only alerts travel over the network.
Secure Link
Each unit dials out through an encrypted tunnel on two mobile networks, with site Wi-Fi where it exists. No ports are opened on site.
Salus Platform
Receives each alert with its clip, adds the site and response plans, relays live video and two-way audio, checks camera health and keeps the event record.
Licensed Operators
Victorian-licensed operators in Australia view live, talk down, operate the siren and strobe, and call police and keyholders.
Portal And Reports
Live view and history, a morning report by 7 am, immediate notice of serious events and evidence packs on request.
The Salus Camera Unit
These are design targets for the first unit. The prototype will be bench tested and run through a Melbourne winter before we rely on these figures.
- 4+ daysRunning without sun, on solar and a battery one person can swap
- 2 sFrom detection on the camera to the alert reaching the platform
- 50 mNight vision, on a camera of at least 5 MP with 4x optical zoom
- 110 dBSpeaker at 1 m, with clear speech at 30 m
- 2 SIMsOn different networks with automatic failover, plus site Wi-Fi
- 1 TBMaximum recording on the unit, with backfill after any dropout
- IP66Weatherproof from -10 to +60 °C, locked, with tamper alert and GPS
AI Spots The Person. A Licensed Operator Decides What Happens Next.
What The AI Does
- Detects people and vehicles on the camera.
- Filters out animals, shadows, rain and headlights.
- Decides what an operator should look at, and nothing more.
- Later, a second model will check each clip alongside operators for at least six months before it can change the order of the queue.
What We Have Ruled Out
- Facial recognition. Detection never identifies who someone is.
- Number plates, which stay off unless a site needs them for evidence, after a privacy assessment.
- Listening in. The site microphone opens only during a talk-down.
- Offshore data. All video, audio and event data stays in Australia.
Security And Privacy By Design
- Nothing open to the internetUnits dial out through encrypted tunnels. Storage and backups will be encrypted too.
- Locked-down devicesNo default passwords, unique credentials per unit, and signed firmware with remote security updates.
- Limited accessMulti-factor authentication on every account. Operators see only the site that raised the alert, for the life of the event.
- Set retentionFalse-alert clips kept for 30 days and verified evidence for seven years or until a claim closes. Deletion is automatic and logged.
- Controlled releaseClients see their own site. Police on written request, insurers with client consent, and every release is logged.
- Independent testingASD Essential Eight Level 1 before the first client, and an independent penetration test before the platform carries more than 25 sites.
How A Site Gets Set Up
Survey
Losses, perimeter and gates, signal on both networks, clear sky for solar, mounting points and neighbours in view.
Design
Camera and zone plan, privacy masking, sign and speaker positions, and a draft response plan.
Install
A licensed installer fits the units, then tests every zone, speaker, siren and strobe at night.
Handover
Response plan, site plan and device list go to the monitoring centre before live service, and the client signs off.
Tuning
Up to seven nights of zone tuning. Every verified intrusion still gets the full response.
Review
A first-month review of events, false alerts and the response plan, then every three months.
What Will Be Measured
Every event will log detection, operator view, first words, any Triple Zero call and close. Clients will get the times every month, and these are the levels contracts will set at launch.
Live Guarding Is The First Product On The Platform
Every verified event is stored with the operator's verdict. That library will train our own models, which will cut false alerts and the cost of monitoring each site.
- Early 2027
Launch Platform
Alert relay, live video and talk-back, health monitoring, client portal, morning reports and evidence packs.
- Through 2027
Event Library
Every event stored with the operator's verdict, building a labelled library of real Victorian night-time events.
- Late 2027
Second-Check AI
A model that checks each clip and explains it, tested against operators before it influences anything.
- 2028
Own Detection Models
Models trained on our own events and tuned per site, to cut false alerts and monitoring cost.
- 2029 onwards
New Sensors And Services
More camera and sensor types, automated and drone-based services for larger sites, and other states.
Built In Melbourne By Three Founders
The idea for Salus came in early 2026, when Matthew's complete tool kit was stolen. Salus is the Latin word for safety.
Rosario Albinelli
Founder and DirectorRuns a Melbourne marketing and technology business and works daily with AI and data systems. Leads technology, the monitoring platform, AI, cyber security and privacy.
Matthew D'Orazio
Founder and DirectorQualified carpenter working with volume home builders, on active sites every week. Leads site operations, surveys and installation, and builder relationships.
Aria Kabiri
Founder and DirectorOwner-operator of a Melbourne renovation business with its own cabinetry workshop. Leads scheduling, logistics, site coordination, traffic management and client communication.
Where We Are Now
- Done
First camera unit specified and a manufacturer engaged.
- Next
Application for a Victorian Private Security Business Licence.
- Early 2027
Prototype bench tests and monitoring integration.
- 2027
First pilot site, once the licence is granted, then a winter field test of the unit.
Questions
Is Salus a remote guarding company?
Salus is a security technology company. Live guarding is the first product we are launching, and the hardware, models and platform are built to carry more sensors and services later.
Can I buy it now?
Not yet. Salus Defence will offer monitoring only after its Victorian Private Security Business Licence is granted. Register your interest and we will keep you updated.
Where will it be available?
Victoria first, starting in Melbourne, then other states as each licence is obtained.
Does a site need power or internet?
No mains connection is needed. Units will run on solar and battery and connect over two mobile networks, using site Wi-Fi first where it exists.
Does the AI decide who is a threat?
No. The AI decides what an operator should look at. A licensed person decides every escalation.
Does Salus send guards or patrols?
No. Where a client wants a patrol to attend after an alarm, it will be arranged through a licensed patrol partner with the client's written consent.
Do clients buy the equipment?
No. Units are hired and never sold, and Salus maintains and replaces them.
Register Your Interest
Tell us who you are and we will keep you updated as the first sites go live. We are owner-funded today, and investors and partners are welcome to follow the company early.
Register Interest