Security industry reforms in Queensland and South Australia

Some state governments are implementing reforms to the security industry which will affect the way licenses are issued.

Queensland Fair Trading Minister Margaret Keech recently announced that the Security Providers Amendment Bill 2006 would complement counter-terrorism activities here and in other jurisdictions.

The Bill implements a call by the Council of Australian Governments for states and territories to harmonise private security licensing regimes and to complement the council's counter-terrorism initiatives, which recognise that a national security industry has a key role to play in counter-terrorism activities at a time when security is paramount.

The security industry has the potential to fulfil a role in protecting critical infrastructure and, in some cases, provide a first response to a terrorist incident. A nationally consistent approach to licensing, probity and character checks will provide a 'nowhere to hide' framework to prevent exploitation of inconsistencies across state boundaries.

Council of Australian Governments senior officials have agreed the Australian Police Ministers Council national working group should continue working on nationally consistent probity and character checks and the development of a core set of security activities for the purpose of licensing in all jurisdictions.

This harmonisation seeks to enable greater consistency between the interstate licensing regimes. A common approach in licensing security providers will enable security resources to be quickly deployed across jurisdictional boundaries on the basis of need.

In Queensland key reforms are:

licensing of previously unregulated sectors of the industry such as locksmiths, equipment installers, electronic surveilers, dog handlers, in-house security guards and security advisers
tightening of background probity checks and increasing the list of factors that may be used to determine whether a person is suitable to remain in the industry
mandating ongoing training to force security personnel to learn up-to-date techniques for maintaining order and avoiding dispute esculation
creating a new short-term 'trainee licence' to encourage people into the industry who meet probity and suitability requirements
sharply increasing the statutory penalties for operating without a licence, including provision for jail terms.

Training requirements will be strengthened and corporate licence approval will be conditional on provision of ongoing staff training by approved industry-based training providers.

The Security Providers Amendment Bill 2006 can be found at www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bill_Pages/Bill_52_06.htm (Bills are listed alphabetically.)

In South Australia reforms to the Security and Investigations Agents Act 1995 are currently being implemented by the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs, South Australia Police and the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner.

The reforms include:

the power for the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs to suspend the licence of a security agent
automatic cancellation of a security agent's licence if the security agent is found guilty of certain offences (e.g. assault and drugs and firearms offences)
fingerprinting of security agents
random alcohol and drug testing of crowd controllers
ability to require applicants and crowd controllers to undergo psychological assessment to determine their fitness to hold a licence
ability to require crowd controllers to undertake specific refresher training.

There are new requirements in South Australia for security agents working for licensed liquor or gaming premises. Persons who are required to use force for removal or prevention of entry must become approved crowd controllers with the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner by 1 February 2007.

Licensed premises are no longer able to use 'ushers' or 'greeters' to perform crowd control work unless they are licensed with the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs. They will also need to be approved by the Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner if they may be required to use force to remove or prevent entry of persons.

For more information on the South Australian reforms visit www.olgc.sa.gov.au (Select 'crowd controllers' from the left hand navigation on the home page.)

This page was generated on 15 September, 2009

Tags: QLD,SA,COAG,Security,. Click here to view the tag cloud.

Security industry reforms in Queensland and South Australia

Explore Licensing Line News