Training requirements and job vacancies.for Security Officers interested in working at the Commonwealth Games.  Commonwealth Games Security Officer

If you’re a Sydney or New South Wales based licensed security officer you need to register with one of our preferred providers before the end of 2017.

Please email your details to one of our preferred providers or visit SEEK to view all available security roles.

For further information, please call (07) 5618 2018 during business hours

The Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2017 was introduced by the Hon Grace Grace, Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs on 25 May 2017. Minister’s Introduction speech

The Bill was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 7 September 2017. Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 and Explanatory Notes.

The Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 establishes a mandatory labour hire licensing scheme to protect labour hire workers and safeguard those labour hire providers that are ethical and responsible. Key features of the Bill include:

• labour hire providers to be licensed to operate in Queensland
• persons who engage labour hire providers to only engage only licensed providers
• labour hire licensees to satisfy fit and proper person test to establish that they are capable of providing labour hire services in compliance with all relevant laws and that the labour hire business is financially viability
• licensees to report regularly on labour hire and associated activities including accommodation, and in relation to compliance with relevant laws
• strong penalties for breach of obligations
• establishing a labour hire licensing compliance unit with a field services inspectorate with responsibility for awareness, monitoring and enforcement functions.

Refer to Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

A labour hire licensing website will be published to provide information about the scheme and employment rights and obligations for labour hire providers, users of labour hire and workers. Labour hire providers will also be able to apply for a licence and provide their reports online. Users of labour hire and workers will be able search a register of licensed labour hire providers so that they can verify that they are dealing with legitimate businesses. Complaints or concerns about a labour hire provider or labour hire arrangement can also be lodged through the website or by directly contacting the labour hire licensing compliance unit.

The Queensland labour hire licensing scheme is expected to be up and running in 2018.

On 22 August 2017 the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Hon. Grace Grace MP, introduced the Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 into the Queensland Parliament.

The Bill proposes some significant changes to Queensland’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (‘WHS Act)’, including a new, criminal offence for industrial manslaughter, carrying up to 20 years’ imprisonment for individuals and $12,615,000 for bodies corporate.

The Bill adopts some of the 58 recommendations made in an independent review that was commissioned last year following a number of fatalities at Dreamworld and Eagle Farm Racecourse. The review identified several holes in public safety regulations and has prompted the Queensland government to act quickly.

Industrial Manslaughter

Fundamentally, the criminal offence for industrial manslaughter will apply to persons conducting a business or undertaking (‘PCBU’) as well as ‘senior officers’, which is defined to mean those with a high level of executive decision-making power. It also requires an element of negligence on the part of the offender – as opposed to recklessness currently addressed by category 1 offences under the WHS Act – and conduct which substantially contributes to death.

Independent Statutory Office

In addition to creating new offences, the Bill proposes to establish an independent statutory office for work health and safety prosecutions. A WHS Prosecutor will be appointed for a five year renewable term and will adopt the power to conduct and defend court or tribunal proceedings currently given to the WHS Queensland Regulator. Indictable offences will continue to transfer to the Director of Public Prosecutions for decision and action.

Review of Decisions by WHSQ Inspectors

Further amendments include the new power for WHSQ Inspectors to make determinations or directions and the transfer of jurisdiction to review their decisions from the Queensland Civil and Administration Tribunal (‘QCAT’) to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (‘QIRC’). A failure comply with directions (such as the direction to allow a permit holder to enter the workplace) may result in a penalty against the individual of up to $12,615.

If the Bill is passed, the QIRC will become the primary body for disputes. It will be given new powers to hear and determine – in any way it thinks fit – disputes between a PCBU’s, workers, health and safety representatives and relevant unions. Where the QIRC becomes involved, internal reviews of the business will cease and the decision of a WHSQ inspector will remain on foot until further notice.

Mandatory Compliance with Codes of Practice

Duty holders will be required to comply with relevant Codes of Practice, which provide practical guidance on how to achieve compliance with WHS laws, unless they can show that they go above and beyond the standard prescribed in these documents. This reinstates a previous requirement of the repealed Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (Qld).

Further Changes

Other legislative changes proposed by the Bill include:

• Prohibiting enforceable undertakings in response to contraventions of the industrial manslaughter provisions and category 2 offences resulting in a person’s death;
• Reintroducing the non-mandatory option of appointing WHS Officers in the workplace with general functions such as identifying hazards and risks, undertaking annual assessments, investigating incidents and establishing appropriate training programs;
• Mandating appropriate training for Health and Safety Representatives within 6 months of being elected and refresher courses every 3 years;
• Clarifying an inspector’s powers under s 171 of the WHS Act; and
• Clarifying a PCBU’s right to refuse access to confidential commercial information under s 70 of the WHS Act.

What does this mean for my business?

The proposed Bill indicates a shift towards the pre-harmonised model safety legislation adopted in Queensland. It provides for a new method of regulation and more safeguards to prevent and deter fatalities from occurring within the workplace.

Interested parties with concerns about this Bill are invited and encouraged to make submissions to the Finance and Administration Committee by 14 September 2017. How to make a submission

To ensure the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games is the safest and most successful Games ever, the Palaszczuk Government is investing $2 million in training for 1000 extra security guards.

Minister for Training and Skills Yvette D’Ath said the security and training boost would support the delivery of a safe and successful event for athletes, staff, volunteers and visitors.

“The new, fully-trained officers will boost the security guard ranks to 4200 personnel working at the Commonwealth Games,” Mrs D’Ath said.

“Importantly, they will be equipped with the skills needed to maintain community safety before, during and after the Games.

“The new security guards will undergo training to attain a Certificate III in Security Operations and students will be encouraged to obtain two separate industry security licences as an unarmed guard and crowd controller.

QLD Government invests in security training for a safe Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games Security Officer

The Queensland Government will introduce mandatory licensing of labour hire companies in a bid to crack-down on rogue operators exploiting and mistreating vulnerable workers.

Under the proposed mandatory licensing scheme, all labour hire providers operating in Queensland would need to:

• pass a fit-and-proper person test
• comply with strict workplace laws, including workers’ compensation, wages and superannuation
• pay a license fee;
• report regularly on their operations; and
• divulge the number of employees they have engaged, along with the number of employees engaged through work visa arrangements

The proposed new laws will be backed by stiff penalties and some offenders will be liable for criminal prosecution. A compliance unit will also be established to check licence holders for continued compliance with their licence conditions, and investigate complaints.

Legislation to give effect to mandatory labour hire licensing will be introduced in May, with the scheme expected to be up and running in 2018.

The Queensland Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is reminding those training to work in the security industry to ensure they complete their training through a reputable provider.

The warning comes as the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) cancelled the registration of a further three Registered Training Organisations (RTO) that were delivering security training in states across Australia, including New South Wales and Queensland.

Sage Academy Training Pty Ltd, Premier Training Institute Pty Ltd, and Safety and First Aid Education Pty Ltd had their credentials cancelled due to delivering poor quality training and assessment in security training courses. ASQA acted on these organisations after concerns were raised by the OFT about their activities.

Safety and First Aid Education Pty Ltd have since appealed the cancellation.

ASQA is the national training regulator, responsible for registering RTOs and monitoring the quality of training delivery and assessment.

In 2016, the ASQA cancelled the registration of Peacemakers Security Pty Ltd, trading as Peacekeeper Security Training Institute.

During the investigation, ASQA found that Peacemakers recently issued qualifications to some students, without those students undertaking the proper training and assessment.

The OFT is reminding those wishing to enter the security industry to commit to doing the training properly with a reputable provider, and not risk losing, or not obtaining, your licence over poor, or in some circumstances, non-existent training.

Registered Training Organisations are listed at www.training.gov.au.

Information of training requirements to enter the security industry in Queensland are available from www.qld.gov.au/fairtrading or by calling 13 QGOV (13 74 68).

Mandatory ID scanning for most liquor licensed venues in Queensland Safe Night Precincts commences on 1 July 2017

SPAAL had requested the Office of Fair Trading provide a clear and easy to understand written direction for the operation of ID scanners by licensed crowd controllers, as it was always our understanding that this was a screening activity and therefore required licensed personnel to operate this system.

The Commissioner for Liquor, Gaming and Fair Trading has approved the attached ‘guideline’ which in effect exempts certain ‘scanning personnel’ on licensed premises from the requirement to be licensed as a crowd controller under the Security Providers Act, but only under the following conditions;

• ID scanning is mandatory for the venue.
• The person scanning ID is accompanied and directly supervised by a licensed crowd controller at all times while performing ID scanning.
• A licensed crowd controller independently assesses both the ID and the patron, and appropriately screens the entry of the patron.
• If the ID scan identifies a banned patron, only a licensed crowd controller may remove that person from on or around the premises.
• In any physical interaction between a licensed crowd controller and a patron, a person merely scanning a patron’s ID must avoid all involvement.
• The person scanning ID must be appropriately trained to operate the scanning system.

 Security licence exemption for ID scanning guideline

SPAAL welcomes this decision which recognises the importance of the Queensland crowd control industry in identifying banned patrons attempting to entry late night trading premises within all Queensland Safe Night Precincts.

SPAAL is now developing a training package for the industry as the Liquor Act 1992 places considerable responsibility of licensees and therefore crowd controllers with regards to the use of the scanners (technical requirements) , as well as requirements for compliance with the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 to safeguard the handling of personal information obtained through scanning of ID’s.

If you require any further information about this training package and/or your responsibilities as a crowd controller please don’t hesitate to contact SPAAL's President, Garry Oliver on 0414527800 or president@spaal.com.au

On Monday 23 January 2017 the Queensland Government announced that the 1am lock out would be removed and that all venues located in a safe night precinct, regardless of whether they were prescribed as a 2am or 3am safe night precinct, would be approved to trade liquor until 3am, if their current approved hours permit them to.

The statewide 2am last drinks are unaffected by these changes, in-line with current arrangements for venues outside of safe night precincts.

In further changes, certain licensed venues inside SNP who trade past midnight on a permanent basis will be required to have an approved networked ID scanner installed and operating at their venue by 1 July 2017.

Further information will be updated at www.business.qld.gov.au/liquor-gaming as it becomes available.

Ensuring businesses have appropriate workers’ compensation insurance and understand ‘who is a worker’, are hot buttons for WorkCover Queensland this year, as part of a state-wide employer compliance program.

WorkCover has bolstered its year-round onsite employer compliance and education visits and employer wage audits with access to data matching information linked to the Australian Tax Office and the Office of State Revenue.

In 2015, WorkCover visited 2,300 Queensland businesses from the construction, agriculture, manufacturing, retail and tourism sectors to educate employers on their responsibility to insure workers with an accident insurance policy.

During this period, uninsured businesses lodged 260 workplace injury claims with WorkCover, costing the scheme approximately $6.5 million, while audits of 650 Queensland businesses found that 8% omitted to declare wages paid to contractors deemed workers and 3% of employers were uninsured.

If you own a business and employ workers in Queensland, even members of your family, it is compulsory to have an accident insurance policy with WorkCover. If a worker is injured at work, they can apply for workers’ compensation no matter whom or what caused their injury, so it’s important to be covered.

WorkCover Queensland Manager - Customer Compliance, Ms Stacey Looney said the vast majority of businesses do the right thing by having an accident insurance policy and paying the right amount of premium, yet non-compliance is a concern.

“Any Queensland business who employs a worker is breaking the law if they don’t have a WorkCover Accident Insurance policy,” Ms Looney said.

“Uninsured employers who lodge WorkCover claims are held to account and subject to significant financial penalties, including the cost of the claim. These penalties can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars for severe injuries.”

A WorkCover Accident Insurance policy costs as little as $200 per year, inc GST (depending on which industry a business belongs to and wages paid to its workers).

“It’s never too late to start complying,” Ms Looney said. “Small businesses covered by WorkCover enjoy benefits including protection for the business and workers against injuries and protection against penalties for employing workers without having a policy.”

If employers are confused about their obligations to insure their workers against injury or who they need to cover, WorkCover is here to help.

Employers can apply for a WorkCover policy online by visiting Worksafe.qld.gov.au, or by calling WorkCover on 1300 362 128 to get the right advice.