Private security is a licensed industry, and the licence is not a formality — operating without it is a criminal offence with imprisonment attached. What almost nobody realises is that the obligation does not stop at the provider. If you buy security for your business, your building or your complex, the law puts a duty on you too.
Who must be registered
The Private Security Industry Regulation Act requires every person rendering a security service to be registered with the Authority.
That covers the recognisable services — guarding, armed response, access control, event security, close protection, cash-in-transit — and extends further than people expect, including into security consulting.
The business and the people are separate
Registering the company does not register the officers. The requirement attaches to each person rendering the service. A registered business deploying unregistered officers is still in contravention.
Practically: check registration before you deploy someone to a site, not after an incident makes it matter. Build it into onboarding, alongside the contract.
What contravening it carries
This is not an administrative penalty. The Act provides that on a first conviction a contravention carries a fine or imprisonment for up to five years, and on a second or subsequent conviction, up to ten years.
Alongside the criminal exposure sits the commercial one: without valid registration a security business cannot legitimately hold contracts, and public sector work is closed entirely.
The part buyers do not know
Contracting with an unregistered security provider is an offence for the consumer too. The Authority publishes a consumer information notice placing that obligation on buyers explicitly.
If you are a business, a body corporate, a school, a landlord or a facilities manager, this is your obligation and not only your supplier's. And it is the cheapest compliance item you will ever deal with — one email and a verification.
It is also commercially sensible entirely apart from the law. An unregistered provider is usually cheaper for a reason, and the reason is that they are not carrying the costs everyone else is: training, vetting, registration, and compliant wages.
How to verify a provider
- Ask for the business registration certificate, and for confirmation that deployed officers are registered.
- Verify with the Authority rather than accepting a copy at face value. A certificate is a document; registration is a status, and statuses lapse.
- Keep the confirmation on file with the contract.
- Re-check at renewal, and whenever the provider changes the team on your site.
If you do cleaning or maintenance, not security
PSiRA regulates security services. Cleaning and general facilities work is not licensed in the same way, and you should not be sold a registration you do not need.
What does apply to you is the rest of the stack: wage floors for your sector, a current COIDA letter of good standing — which almost every client site will ask for — and contracts that let you escalate your rate as costs rise.
What to do
- Establish whether you render a security service — that decides everything else.
- If you do: register the business, and register every officer. Treat lapses as urgent, not admin.
- If you buy security: verify your provider now, and file the confirmation.
- Keep your COIDA letter current — it expires annually and gates site access.
- Check the wage floor for your sector and diarise its revision.
The free facilities and security check asks which side you are on first, and scores the rest against it — including the buyer-side question.
Frequently asked questions
- Who has to register with PSiRA?
- Every person rendering a security service. That means the business itself and each security officer individually - a registered company deploying unregistered officers is still in contravention.
- What happens if a security business operates unregistered?
- It is a criminal offence. On a first conviction the Act provides for a fine or imprisonment for up to five years, and on a second or subsequent conviction up to ten years. It also ends any realistic prospect of public sector work.
- I hire a security company. Does any of this apply to me?
- Yes, and this is the part most buyers do not know. Contracting with an unregistered security service provider is an offence for the consumer as well. The Authority publishes a consumer information notice placing that obligation on buyers explicitly.
- How do I check my provider is registered?
- Ask for their registration certificate and verify it with the Authority rather than accepting a copy at face value. Keep the confirmation on file and re-check at renewal - registrations lapse.
- I run a cleaning company. Do I need PSiRA?
- Not for cleaning. PSiRA regulates security services. Cleaning and general facilities work is not licensed in the same way, though wage and injury-compensation obligations still apply.
Next steps
Compliance keeps you allowed to trade. It does not make the site profitable — for that, price relief cover, supervision and escalation into the rate. See the business operations guides.