9 December 2013

Security Industry Amendment (Licences) Act 2013 and Security Industry Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Regulation 2013.

On 9 December 2013, changes to the security industry legislation took effect, including:

  • extending licence eligibility to include an applicant who is a holder of a working visa (other than a student or working holiday visa)
  • allowing applicants for a Class 1 or Class 2 licence to lodge the required training documentation within 42 days after lodging their application
  • omitting the requirement for an applicant for a master licence or visitor permit who is a corporation to include its Australian Company Number in the application
  • providing for the Commissioner of Police to make determinations in relation to uniforms to be worn and vehicles to be used in connection with the carrying on of security activities.

For more information, refer to the Security Industry Amendment (Licences) Act 2013 and Security Industry Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Regulation 2013.

7 November 2013

ICAC Operation Tilga related licence revocations.

The SLED has completed action to revoke all security licences held by, or associated with, individuals who were found by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to have acted corruptly, following ICAC's investigation of processes relating to the supply of security services to several NSW public authorities (Operation Tilga). Two corporations avoided revocation of their Master licences by taking action to remove relevant individuals from close associate roles.

17 October 2013

Conditional Licences.

You have a "Conditional Class 1 licence" if you hold a Class 1 licence that was:

  • converted from a provisional licence on 1 November 2012 (with the abolition of the Provisional Licensing Scheme) or
  • issued for the first time from 1 November 2012 without you having met all relevant Class 1 competency requirements

These licences are "conditional" as they each have a condition placed on them under section 23E of the Security Industry Act 1997 that requires the holder to undertake further training and assessment.

To satisfy the condition and have it removed from your licence, you must attain all the units of competency required for your licence by the specified deadline.

For converted provisional licences, this deadline is 1 December 2013.

If you have a "Conditional Class 1 licence", you should have received a letter that explained how to attain the required units of competency and how to notify us that you have done so.

You must attain the required units of competency with a training organisation approved by the Commissioner of Police. These are known as "Approved Organisations" and you can view a list of Approved Organisations.

You notify us by completing a "Notification of Attainment of Units of Competency" form - which was included with the letter.

If you hold a converted licence, you must submit the completed form to us by 14 December 2013. Failure to do so may result in your licence being revoked.

15 October 2013

SLED Industry Newsletter.

The SLED is currently finalising the next edition of its Industry Newsletter, which will focus on the SLED's compliance and enforcement activities. This edition will be mailed out to licensees, and be available on the SLED website, in November 2013.

28 August 2013

Important information relating to credit card payments.

From 24 August 2013, all credit card payments are subject to a 0.4% merchant fee.

This fee applies to all online transactions and applications received by the SLED where the payment method is via credit card and will be applied automatically upon payment processing.

SLED is updating application forms to reflect the merchant fee.

The merchant fee will be applied even if the form has not yet been updated.

The current schedule of fees is available on the SLED Application Forms webpage. To determine how much you will need to pay, simply multiply the amount of your fee by 1.004 to get the total including the merchant fee.

For more information on competency requirements for Class 1 licences, please refer to our website or call us on 1300 362 001.

23 August 2013

Security Industry Amendment (Exempt Persons) Regulation 2013 - Exemption for 'Responsible Service of Alcohol Marshals (RSA)' effective from 23 August 2013.

An amendment has been made to Schedule 1 of the Security Industry Regulation 2007 to exempt legitimate RSA Marshals, who otherwise would be captured by the 'Crowd Controller' definition in Section 4 of the Security Industry Act 1997 . The exemption does not apply if an RSA Marshal's duties cross the line into those properly undertaken by appropriately licensed crowd controllers, or by liquor licensees and their employees who are covered by a separate exemption - no. 8 of Schedule 1.

The amendment exempts persons who are employed or engaged for the purpose of carrying out RSA supervisory duties (within the meaning of Clause 53G (5) of the Liquor Regulation 2008 ) on licensed premises, but only to the extent to which the person carries out those duties and does not physically restrain or eject persons from, or prevent their entry to, such premises.

Section 53G (5) of the Liquor Regulation 2008 defines RSA supervisory duties as:

(a) monitoring responsible service of alcohol practices by staff members who are selling, supplying or serving liquor,

(b) engaging with those staff, and patrons on the premises, for the purpose of encouraging responsible attitudes and practices in relation to the promotion, sale, supply, service and consumption of liquor,

(c) monitoring alcohol consumption by patrons and their behaviour for signs of irresponsible, rapid or excessive consumption of alcohol and for signs of intoxication,

(d) intervening at an early stage to assist in the prevention of intoxication and anti-social behaviour (such intervention may include suggesting that patrons moderate their alcohol consumption by consuming food or non-alcoholic beverages),

(e) assisting in the resolution of disputes arising on the premises between patrons.

It is now clear that RSA Marshals are not to physically restrain or eject persons from premises, or prevent their entry to such premises. If they do so, they cease to be exempt from the requirement to hold a Class 1C security licence.

8 July 2013

SLED Security Industry Survey.

As part of the SLED's commitment to continuously improve service to members of the security industry, a security industry survey has been developed to find out what the industry thinks about SLED's current level of service and about industry compliance.

8 April 2013

Acceptance of Training Certification.

All applicants for a Class 1 licence must meet current competency requirements as published on the SLED website. Holders of training certificates that do not meet these requirements must contact a SLED Approved Organisation (Security Training) to obtain acceptable training certification.

This does not apply to existing licensees who renew within 90 days of their licence expiry date.

25 February 2013

Security licences can now be renewed online.

For more information go to the 'Renew Your Licence Online' webpage.

22 February 2013

RMS ID required prior to submitting an application for a NSW security operator licence.

All successful applicants for NSW security operator licences are issued with a photo-licence card. NSW Security Photo-Licence Cards are issued by NSW Roads & Maritime Services (RMS).

To facilitate the production of a photo-licence card, applicants must either hold a:

  • NSW Driver Licence or
  • Photo Card issued by RMS or
  • obtain a Customer Number (issued by RMS where applicants reside interstate).

To obtain an RMS Customer Number, an applicant needs to provide proof of identity documents such as a passport, proof of address (utility bill) and proof of signature (a credit card or similar).

It is the SLED's understanding that RMS does not charge for this service. However, more information can be obtained by telephoning RMS on 1800 624 384 (for interstate callers) or 13 22 13 (for calling from NSW).