Nine News reported that Marles had announced the inquiry after an audit revealed 900 Chinese surveillance cameras were installed at government sites.
Australia is following the US and UK on this action. Last November, the British government instructed government departments and locations to halt the deployment of any Chinese CCTV equipment.
The British decision to ban the use of CCTV cameras from the likes of Hikvision and Dahua, was down to concern the two firms have links to the Chinese government.
It came after the UK government's surveillance camera commissioner, Professor Fraser Sampson, in May 2022 issued a warning about Chinese-made CCTV cameras commonly found on British streets.
Professor Fraser Sampson said he was becoming increasingly concerned about the security risks posed by "state-controlled surveillance systems covering our public spaces."
Sampson warned public sector bodies and local authorities against buying CCTV equipment from Chinese firms, including market leader Hikvision.
Nine News claimed the Australian government is taking action against Chinese-made CCTV systems from Hikvision and Dahua.
"We're assessing all the technology for surveillance within the defence estate and where those particular cameras are found, they'll be removed," Marles reportedly told ABC.
"It's a significant thing that's been brought to our attention and we're going to fix it – it's obviously been there … for some time and predates us coming into office," he added.
Marles cautioned the Australian public shouldn't overreact about the risk of sensitive data being fed to Beijing.
"It has been brought to our attention, it is prudent we do the assessment and act on it," he told 9News.
Hikvision told the Beeb it was"categorically false" to represent them as a threat to national security.
"No respected technical institution or assessment has come to this conclusion," a spokeswoman reportedly said.
The company reportedly said it could nott access end users' video data and could not transmit it to third parties.
