General information about the law, not legal advice. Each Act is linked at the foot of this page with the version read; those Acts, and the permit or approval each one names, are the official place to check.
New South WalesItems a guard may be asked about
A prohibited weapon in New South Wales means anything described in Schedule 1 of the Act. The table is a selection of the items closest to guarding work; the full Schedule is linked at the foot of this page.
| Item | Schedule 1 | What the Schedule leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| “Body armour vests (or other similar article) designed for anti-ballistic purposes or similar purposes (such as protection against electroshock or conducted energy devices) and to be worn on (or to cover) any part of the body” | cl 4(1) | Helmets, and anti-ballistic articles used to protect the eyes or ears. |
| “Handcuffs (including thumb and leg cuffs)”, a set of ring-shaped shackles designed to be worn on the wrists, thumbs or ankles | cl 4(2) | Antique handcuffs; handcuffs produced and identified as children’s toys; handcuffs designed to be released by the wearer, such as those used in theatrical productions. |
| “A side-handled baton” or similar article: a baton, staff or rod of any hard substance with a handle fitted to one side | cl 2(17) | An article produced and identified as a children’s toy. |
| “An extendable or telescopic baton” | cl 2(17A) | Nothing stated. |
| “Any hand-held defence or anti-personnel device that is designed to administer an electric shock on contact” | cl 2(18) | Nothing stated. |
| A defence or anti-personnel spray able to discharge irritant matter containing CN, CS, DM (Adamsite) or “oleoresin capsicum, known as OC” | cl 2(22) | Nothing stated. |
| Any other device designed as a defence or anti-personnel spray “that is capable of discharging any irritant matter” | cl 2(23) | Nothing stated; this item covers sprays outside cl 2(22). |
The permitPossession needs a permit under the weapons law
Section 7(1): “A person must not possess or use a prohibited weapon unless the person is authorised to do so by a permit.” Maximum penalty: imprisonment for 14 years.
The Act has three categories of permit: a general permit, a weapons dealer permit and a theatrical weapons armourer permit (s 8). A security licence is not one of them.
The Commissioner must not issue a permit unless the applicant has, in the Commissioner’s opinion, a genuine reason. The Act’s table of genuine reasons includes “business/employment purposes”, for which “The applicant must demonstrate that it is necessary in the conduct of the applicant’s business or employment to possess or use the prohibited weapon for which the permit is sought.”
Then the limit closest to protective work: “The possession or use of a prohibited weapon for personal protection, or for the protection of any other person, is not a genuine reason for the possession or use of the weapon.” (s 11(3)) The same subsection makes an exception for body armour under clause 4(1) of Schedule 1, and for kinds of prohibited weapon prescribed by the regulations, where such a reason “may constitute a genuine reason”. This guide has not read those regulations, nor any exemption the regulations may make under section 6(4).
A permit lasts up to 5 years (s 15(1)). Whoever possesses a prohibited weapon must take all reasonable precautions for its safe keeping, against its theft or loss, and against it reaching anyone not authorised to have it: up to 100 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both (s 32A).
Firearms are separate again: the New South Wales class 1F security licence authorises guarding approved classes of property while armed, “but only under the authority of a licence or permit to use or possess firearms under the Firearms Act 1996”.
VictoriaBody armour under section 8A
In Victoria’s Control of Weapons Act, body armour means a garment or item designed, intended or adapted to protect the body from the effects of a weapon, including a firearm, and also prescribed by the regulations as body armour (s 3).
Section 8A(1) makes it an offence, without an exemption under section 8B or an approval under section 8C, to bring body armour into Victoria or cause it to be brought or sent there, to make, sell or buy it, or to possess or use it. The penalty is 240 penalty units or 2 years’ imprisonment. An employee of an approval holder is covered while acting in their employment and within the approval (s 8A(2)).
Exemptions are made by the Governor in Council in the Government Gazette (s 8B). Approvals come from the Chief Commissioner of Police, in writing, subject to a condition that the armour is stored safely and securely and to any other conditions the Chief Commissioner sets; they cannot be granted to a prohibited person, among others (s 8C).
This guide has read only these sections of the Victorian Act and not its regulations, so it lists no other items for Victoria.
QueenslandThe armed guard rule
Queensland’s Weapons Act defines a security guard as a person who “patrols, protects, watches over or guards (protects) the person’s property or other persons or other person’s property”, in carrying on a business or in employment (s 6B(1)). Its example is a jeweller carrying jewellery for the business without engaging a guard.
Section 123: “A person must not, in performing duties as a security guard, physically possess a weapon unless the person holds a security licence (guard).” Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units. A security licence (guard) may be issued only to a person who has completed an approved safety training course (security guard), and a holder who intends to renew must complete one within the period prescribed by regulation (s 124).
This guide has read only these sections of the Queensland Act. It prints no list of batons, handcuffs, sprays or body armour for Queensland.
The threadWho decides what is carried
In each state the answer comes from the weapons law, not the security licence: a permit in New South Wales, and an exemption or approval in Victoria. In Queensland a guard who physically possesses a weapon on duty must hold a security licence (guard) under the Weapons Act (s 123), and a regulation may impose conditions on that possession and use (s 125); this guide has not read that regulation. What a guard may do with their hands is in asking someone to leave a venue and arrest by a private person.