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Training and procurement of security personnel has come under increased
scrutiny lately, by the public and the government. And, in a changing
security environment, as government and security begin to work more
closely together, there are a couple of hot topics to be across.
Security training
In February 2016, the Australian Skills Quality Authority
(ASQA) released the findings of its strategic review of
security industry training. A representative from the
Australian Security Industry Association Limited (ASIAL)
participated on the management committee overseeing
ASQA’s strategic review.
ASQA Chief Commissioner Chris Robinson said
inconsistent licensing arrangements across states and
territories and poor quality training and assessment
were posing fundamental challenges to ensuring
licensed security personnel were equipped to safely
carry out their duties.
Mr Robinson said that while qualifications for security
roles were national, the regulation of security licensing
in state and territory-based, making it more difficult
to ensure consistency and alignment between
qualifications and licensing requirements.
“Until the inconsistent licensing arrangements are fixed,
people will continue to cross borders to attain licenses in
jurisdictions with fewer requirements,” he said.
“The other key finding of our review is the threat posed
to quality training by the prevalence of extremely short
courses which do not allow people to gain the required
skills and competencies.
“While this issue is systemic across VET, it is endemic in
security training.”
Mr Robinson said ASQA recommended that state and
territory licensing authorities agree to a single set of
qualifications and units to be used in all jurisdictions,
which would pave the way for consistent licensing
arrangements that could be incorporated into the
training package.
ASQA’s report reaffirmed the critical importance of
well-trained security personnel in providing a safe and
secure environment, and as the peak body for security
professionals, ASIAL welcomed the report and its
recommendations.
“Given the vital role performed by the security industry
in safeguarding the Australian community, it is crucial
that those employed in the industry are competent and
well trained,” ASIAL CEO Bryan de Caires said.
“ASIAL is fully supportive of the need to raise the
quality of training and assessment provided by
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) through more
effective regulation by State and Federal authorities.
It is evident that the actions of unscrupulous RTOs
drawn by easy profits from government funding have
damaged standards through the delivery of inadequate
training. For too long security companies have had to
bear the burden of the failure of RTOs. The time has
come for those regulating RTOs to act decisively.
“In working through the recommendations ASIAL
believes there must be a commitment to extensive
industry consultation and engagement to ensure that a
viable and sustainable solution is developed to address
the core issue of poor quality training. Unless this
occurs, the very real fear is that rather than addressing
the issues, the problem will only get worse.
GOVLINK » ISSUE 3 2016