General information about the law, not legal advice. Each guide links the Acts it relies on, with the version read; those Acts are the official text to check.
The floorA licence for the role
Queensland’s Security Providers Act 1993 puts the first role in one line: “A bodyguard is a person who, for reward, provides a close personal protection service.” A crowd controller, in the same Act, is paid to be at a public place “principally for keeping order” in or about it. Unless a person holds the appropriate licence, they must not carry out the functions of either, or advertise that they do.
New South Wales licenses the same two roles under its Security Industry Act 1997: a class 1B licence to act as a bodyguard, and a class 1A licence that covers acting as a crowd controller as well as unarmed guarding of property. In Victoria, acting as a bodyguard and acting as a crowd controller are both security activities under the Private Security Act 2004, carried on under a private security individual operator licence.
The definitions, the licences and the penalties for working without one are set out state by state in bodyguard and crowd controller licences.
A licence says who may do the work. It does not say how far a guard may go. New South Wales puts that plainly: a licence “does not confer on the licensee any function apart from a function authorised by the licence.” The rest comes from laws written for everyone, or for every workplace.
The lineFive questions, five laws
- The licenceBodyguard and crowd controller licences
In New South Wales, working without a licence that authorises the activity carries up to 500 penalty units or 2 years’ imprisonment, or both.
- The doorAsking someone to leave a venue
The Liquor Act 2007 (NSW) allows “such reasonable degree of force as may be necessary” to turn a person out of licensed premises. Victoria’s Act makes refusing to leave, when asked, an offence for a drunk, violent or quarrelsome person, and states no force rule for staff.
- The arrestArrest by a private person
Each state lets any person arrest in limited cases, and says what must happen next. In New South Wales the arrested person goes before an authorised officer “as soon as is reasonably practicable”.
- What is carriedWeapons and body armour
Body armour vests, handcuffs, extendable batons and capsicum sprays are among the prohibited weapons in Schedule 1 of the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 (NSW). Possessing or using one without a permit carries a maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment.
- AloneWorking alone
For remote or isolated work, the work health and safety regulations of Queensland and New South Wales require “a system of work that includes effective communication with the worker”.
The mapThree states, read Act by Act
This guide reads the Acts and regulations of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, each at the version named in its list of sources, and says nothing about the other states and territories. Where one state’s Act is silent on a point another covers, the guide says so rather than borrowing the other state’s rule.
Penalties are printed in penalty units, as each Act prints them, and are not turned into dollars. New South Wales and Queensland Acts are quoted where the exact words matter; Victorian Acts are put in plain words, with each section number given so the text can be found.
Each guide starts with the short answer, then sets out the provisions behind it, in this order: the licence, the door, the arrest, what is carried, and the hours alone.