Licensed security personnel numbers in Australia grew in the past year by 5,797 to 153,526 according to the latest ASIAL Security Licensing Report 2021.
New South Wales accounted for 36% of all individual security licence holders and 45.6% of all security firm licence holders, followed by Victoria (24.4% and 14.6%) and Queensland (15.7% and 13.3%).
West Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory achieved the strongest growth in licensed security personnel numbers.
CEO Bryan de Caires said “The growth in licensed security personnel numbers during what has been an extremely challenging year, is testimony to the security industry’s resilience and ability to respond rapidly and effectively to changing customer needs.”
“Whilst some sectors of the industry have seen strong growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, others such as crowd control have been ravaged by the cancellation of live events. As a result, we are short of crowd control personnel which could stymie the recovery of Australia’s $36.5 billion live events industry,” Mr de Caires said.
The growth in individual security licence holders underscores the vital frontline role performed by frontline security personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic.