It's Time to Professionalise Manpower Security

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It's Time to Professionalise Manpower Security
Laura Eyles
/ Categories: Issues & Trending

It's Time to Professionalise Manpower Security

By Allen Barry

The quarantine fiasco in Melbourne highlighted the plight of professional security companies trying to operate in Australia.  It appears that the Victorian Government gave assignments to three large manpower security companies to control the outbreak of Covid19 within these controlled environments.  It has been widely reported that there was little operational planning carried out by the government or the security companies, leading to a significant spread of the virus.   

 

Other than the obvious, what this highlights is the attitude of clients, including government, to manpower security companies and their personnel.  My experience over some 30 years, clearly indicates that it  is nearly always the cheapest price wins, often at a price where award wages cannot be met.  To this end, to make money, it is reported that these security firms may have taken short cuts by either subcontracting the works potentially on more than one level, not providing the agreed number of staff yet billing for them, not providing the appropriate planning or training.  It is a ‘dog’s breakfast’, with the guards at the bottom of the pile, potentially working for as little as $20 to $25 per hour, more than likely paid in cash.  

 

The victims in this are the professional security companies and the guards on the ground.  The professional companies who pay the correct rates and entitlements would not have been considered for these assignments, written off as being too expensive.  The operatives, operating on cash or below award rates, irrespective of how competent they would be with the correct training, are using the security industry as a transient job role, until something better comes along.

 

The most offensive aspect of this debacle is that it is reported that the Victorian government is now looking to engage persons with a background in corrective services or court officials to control the quarantine centres.  The kicker is this… remuneration around $54.00 per hour!

 

All levels of government must take the lead in professionalising manpower security.  It is not only the Victorian state government.  NSW government is no stranger to underpaying security companies. Professionalism will start when governments make sure they pay an acceptable hourly rate to ensure all persons on the ground are paid correctly and the company is able to make a profit.  This must then flow onto all levels of business.  

 

All state governments hound the security manpower industry about professionalism.  How can professionalism be achieved when the actions of government contribute to mediocrity.

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