Miscellaneous Amendments

Authority for individual Master licensees to carrying on Class 2B security activities

If you hold a Master security licence as an individual (i.e. not a corporation or government agency) it now authorises you to carry on the security activities authorised by a Class 2B (Security Seller) licence. You no longer need to also hold the Class 2B security operative licence.

Find out more about Class 2 licences here.

Security operative licences now come into force when photograph taken

Security operative licences now come into force on the day the applicant is photographed by Service NSW for their security licence card.

SLED will email an acknowledgement letter to the licensee after being photographed confirming their licence is in force. The public register will also be updated to display details of the new licence.

SLED will allow licensees to carry on the security activities authorised by their new licence while they wait for their security licence card to arrive in the post. However, they must carry the acknowledgement letter sent by SLED while working, and produce it to a police officer, enforcement officer or member of the public on request to demonstrate they are licensed.

Master licence numbers in electronic advertisements

Master licensees no longer need to include their licence number in every individual electronic advertisement as long as they include a link in the advertisement that enables a member of the public to easily find the number.

Electronic advertising includes online platforms such as social media, and advertisements sent electronically including by SMS or email.

Three-tiered licence conditions

A three-tiered penalty system for breaches of licence conditions has been introduced.

Rather than the current one size fits all approach, each licence condition has been classified as a Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3 condition with different maximum penalties as outlined below.

  • Breaching a Tier 1 condition: 100 penalty units for corporations, 50 penalty units for individuals
  • Breaching a Tier 2 condition: 200 penalty units for corporations,­ 100 penalty units for individuals, or imprisonment for 6 months, or both
  • Breaching a Tier 3 condition: 500 penalty units for corporations,­ 250 penalty units for individuals, or imprisonment for 12 months, or both.

Note: A penalty unit is currently equal to $110.

The new provisions ensure the maximum penalty for breaching a licence condition matches the seriousness of the offence.

For example, the maximum penalty for a master licensee not notifying SLED of a change of address within 14 days is currently the same as not keeping an incident register in the approved manner and form. From 1 June, not keeping an incident register in the approved manner and form will be classified as a Tier 2 condition with a higher maximum penalty.

New definition of ‘sell’

A definition of ‘sell’ was included in the Security Industry Act 1997 (Act) and mean to sell, hire or lease and offer to sell, hire or lease. This change applies to all relevant provisions of the Act and regulations including the selling of security equipment and services.

Exemptions from licensing requirements

SLED is now authorised to exempt a person or class of persons from the requirement to hold a security licence. An exemption may be granted subject to conditions and can be revoked at any time. SLED will provide a written notice to the person when an exemption is granted.