provider licences in the last financial year. Between July 2008 and June 2009, 21 compliance operations
were completed throughout the state, with 733 businesses visited and the licences of 3,678 security
providers checked.
Office of Fair Trading officers visited licensed venues, critical infrastructure, shopping centres,
major events and any other place where security providers are employed. They checked that all security
providers had the right licences and that all the details on these licences were correct. These checks
were conducted to ensure that only appropriate people were working in the security industry. These
types of compliance checks improve public safety and should act as a warning to anyone working in the
security industry without a licence. Compliance checks are ongoing throughout Queensland and spot
checks can happen at any time. From the compliance operations last financial year, 151 warnings and
223 infringement notices were issued. Nine prosecutions have been finalised through the court,
including one matter where an unlicensed security guard was fined $15,000. In another matter, a
security firm was prosecuted and fined $10,000 for employing an unlicensed security provider.
While the onus is on the security provider to ensure that they have the appropriate licence, it is
also important that employers check to make sure that the people who they are hiring are correctly
licensed. It is an offence to employ an unlicensed person to perform the duties of a security provider.
The Office of Fair Trading website has a free online licence checking facility where anyone can log on
and check the licence status of a security provider. Anyone caught working in the security industry
without a licence faces a fine of up to $50,000.
Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition should go and do these checks and hire himself a security
provider. He might need more than one, actually, because after the debacle of yesterday I am sure the
member for Gregory is not particularly happy with him. That just demonstrates the importance of
thoroughly checking your information.
