Perth Residents Speak Out on Duplicate Image Replacement: 'It Feels Like Our Story Was Erased'

A growing number of Perth residents are discovering that photographs linked to their development applications, heritage submissions, and community program records have been silently swapped or deleted through automated duplicate-image-replacement processes run by local councils and state agencies — and many say they were never told it was happening.

The issue has surfaced across multiple councils in recent months, with residents in Fremantle, Subiaco, and the rapidly expanding Ellenbrook corridor all reporting that images attached to planning and heritage documents no longer match the originals they submitted. In some cases, a generic or mismatched photograph has replaced a site-specific image, altering the evidentiary record of a submission.

Why This Matters Now

The timing is significant. Western Australia is processing a record volume of planning and development applications, driven by population growth fuelled by the AUKUS defence build-up around HMAS Stirling at Garden Island, the Metronet rail expansion pushing new residential corridors into the outer suburbs, and sustained demand from skilled-migration programs. The City of Swan, which covers Ellenbrook and Midland, logged more than 4,200 development applications in the 2024–25 financial year, according to figures the council published in its annual report.

Against that volume, councils have turned to bulk data-management tools to reduce storage costs and streamline digital archives. Duplicate-detection software — designed to collapse identical or near-identical image files into a single stored copy — is a standard feature of many enterprise content-management platforms. The problem emerges when the algorithm flags two images as duplicates based on file metadata or pixel similarity, even though the images represent different sites, different dates, or different owners' submissions.

For heritage advocates, the consequences can be severe. Properties on the State Heritage Register, or those flagged for assessment under the Western Australian Planning Commission's heritage criteria, rely on photographic evidence to support protection arguments. If the image on file no longer reflects the structure as it stood at the time of submission, an appeal or review process can be compromised.

Voices From the Suburbs

Residents contacted by The Daily Perth described a frustrating and opaque complaints process. One Subiaco homeowner said she submitted a series of photographs of her pre-Federation cottage on Bagot Road as part of a heritage listing submission to the City of Subiaco in early 2025. Months later, reviewing her submission via the council's online portal, she found one of the images had been replaced with a photograph that appeared to show a different property entirely. The council told her the replacement was the result of a system migration carried out by its records contractor.

In Fremantle, members of the Fremantle Society — an advocacy group that has campaigned on heritage issues around the West End precinct for decades — say they have logged at least a handful of similar complaints from members since January 2026. The society has written to the City of Fremantle requesting a formal audit of planning application image records going back three years, though no response had been made public as of Friday.

Ellenbrook residents dealing with subdivision and landscaping approvals described a different but related frustration: site photographs submitted to show the condition of land prior to development had been replaced by stock images, making it impossible to use the council record as evidence in neighbour disputes over boundary treatments.

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Western Australia handles complaints about public-sector records management under the State Records Act 2000. Residents can lodge a formal complaint with the Commissioner's office if they believe a public body has mismanaged records that directly affect them — a step that several of those contacted said they were unaware of until recently.

For anyone who suspects their submitted images have been altered or replaced, the practical first step is to request a formal copy of the agency's complete file under the Freedom of Information Act 1992, compare it against any originals retained privately, and document the discrepancy in writing before contacting the relevant council's records management team. If the council's response is unsatisfactory, the State Records Office of Western Australia, based on Pier Street in the Perth CBD, can advise on formal escalation pathways. Acting quickly matters — some retention schedules mean records are lawfully destroyed after fixed periods, and the window to challenge a replacement narrows fast.