Worth Richard: Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Bill — First Reading 
Worth Richard: Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:653;Page:2676] 
Hon Dr RICHARD WORTH (Associate Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Bill be now read a first time. 
 It is my intention to move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee with a report-back date of on or before 31 March 2010. 
The Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Bill was introduced by the previous Government to replace the Private Investigators and Security Guards Act 1974. The Government considers that this bill warrants referral to the select committee where it can be the subject of detailed consideration and public scrutiny. The security industry is being regulated by outdated legislation that is now overdue for replacement. 
The security industry is an important one. New Zealanders depend upon its members for their safety and security 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Members of the industry patrol and protect private properties respond to alarm call-outs and ensure public safety at major sports events and concerts and in licensed premises. They also operate within workplaces to help businesses to protect themselves from theft and fraud. The industry employs more people than the New Zealand Police and is often more visible. Just about everyone in this building will have been greeted by one of its members this morning. 
Reform of this legislation is also timely with major events like the Rugby World Cup coming up in 2011. The Rugby World Cup is an opportunity for New Zealand to showcase all that it has to offer while people participate in the sport that we love. We will be depending heavily on the security industry to ensure that visitors and players alike can fully and enthusiastically participate in this event without fear for their safety and security. 
Plenty of things have changed since 1974 when the current legislation was enacted but the underlying objective of occupational regulation remains the same: protecting the safety of the public and the industry and ensuring that the public can have confidence in the industry but without burdening business with unnecessary bureaucracy and cost. Members of the security industry operate in a position of trust. The aim of the bill is to ensure that those working in the private security industry are of good character and properly trained. 
The bill will require a wider range of people performing security-related activities to be licensed. In particular the bill seeks to extend regulation for the first time to personnel who are responsible for protecting people or are keeping order. This means that bodyguards private security staff guarding people in custody crowd controllers and bouncers will have to be licensed. The benefit of requiring security personnel to be licensed is that they will have to undergo a criminal record check and can also be required to undertake training to ensure they are properly qualified to carry out security work. 
Under the 1974 Act there was no way of ensuring that licensees and certificated employees had completed suitable training. That was because the Act did not require them to undertake any training. This bill will enable regulations to be made requiring training to be completed by applicants for a licence or certificate of approval. One of the problems that this bill seeks to address is the risk associated with untrained personnel becoming involved in a physical confrontation. Just last year the Wellington regional coroner Ian Smith called for compulsory training following the tragic death of Cedric Joyce in Blenheim in 2005 after he was restrained by bouncers outside a pub. Inevitably some members of the industry will sometimes find themselves involved in a physical confrontation and it is in both the public’s and the industry’s best interests that security personnel are properly trained to deal with such situations. The bill sets up a mechanism to achieve that and ultimately we will need to look carefully at who needs to be trained and what type of training is appropriate for different classes of security personnel. 
The bill will also set up an enforcement body called the complaints investigation and prosecution unit. It will be funded by the industry and is intended to ensure compliance with the new legislation. It is intended that the unit would carry out investigations provide information to the licensing authority and carry out prosecutions. The bill also updates offences and increases penalties. For example unlicensed operators are a concern to the industry. The penalty for operating an unlicensed security industry business will go up from $2000 to $40000 for an individual and $60000 for a company. 
I am aware that aspects of this bill will require careful scrutiny by the select committee. The Government has decided to proceed with this bill as it is rather than to withdraw review and redraft it because it is time to make some real progress on reforming the existing regulatory regime and to give the public a chance to have a say on how the industry should be regulated. It is quite possible that major changes may be appropriate when detailed submissions have been heard and considered. In that respect there are aspects of the bill that I encourage the select committee to examine closely. In particular I expect that the select committee and submitters alike will look very closely at whether the reforms are proportionate whether they take account of the small and flexible membership of many security businesses and whether the scope of the regulatory regime is appropriate. The provisions in the bill that specifically govern the activities of private investigators are essentially unchanged from the 1974 Act and will require extra consideration. 
Most members of the industry are consummate professionals in whom New Zealanders can place their trust. However regulation has the ability to encourage all members of the industry to meet the high standards that are expected today. It is my intention that this bill when finally enacted will achieve that in an efficient and cost-effective way. I commend this bill to the House.