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SLED must refuse your application, or revoke your Master licence, if you or a close associate at any time in the three years immediately before the application for the licence (or during the term of the licence) was:

• An undischarged bankrupt or applied to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors
• Concerned in the management of a corporation that was the subject of a winding up order or when a controller or administrator was appointed.

These mandatory grounds apply unless you can prove you took all reasonable steps to avoid the bankruptcy, liquidation or administration.

SLED must refuse a corporation’s application, or revoke its Master licence, if:

• It is the subject of a winding up order for which a controller or administrator has been appointed, or
• At any time in the three years immediately preceding the application for the licence (or during the term of the licence) it was subject of a winding up order or a controller or administrator was appointed.

SLED must refuse your application if you:

• Are not 18 years of age or older
• Are not an Australian citizen, permanent Australian resident
• Don’t hold a visa sponsored via a Master licence holder or a visa for a skilled occupation that corresponds to the licence subclass you’re applying for
• Are not a fit and proper person to have a security licence
• Are a registrable person or corresponding registrable person within the meaning of the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000, and has reporting obligations under that Act
• Do not have the required training and experience for your security licence subclass
• Have been convicted of a prescribed offence in the 10 years before you applied
• Have been found guilty of a prescribed offence with no conviction recorded in the five years before you applied.
• Do not satisfy all eligibility requirements.

There are criminal offences prescribed in security industry legislation that automatically exclude you from entering the security industry.

You cannot be granted a security licence if you have been convicted of a prescribed offence in the past 10 years or found guilty with no conviction recorded within the past five years.

Offences that automatically disqualify an applicant include those involving:

• Violence, fraud, dishonesty or stealing
• Robbery
• Riot or affray
• Stalking or intimidation
• Terrorism
• Possession or use of a firearm or other weapon
• Prohibited drugs, prohibited plants, psychoactive substances or prescribed restricted substances
• Organised criminal groups.

The following offences apply to Class 2E (Private Investigator) licence holders only:

• an offence under the Surveillance Devices Act 2007, Part 2, or a similar offence under the law of another Australian jurisdiction
• an offence under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 of the Commonwealth

Existing licence holders will have their licence revoked if they are found guilty of a prescribed offence.

Further details can be found section 16 of the Security Industry Act 1997 and clause 15 of the Security Industry Regulation 2016.