Security Industry Registry Seizes Power

In a move that won’t thrill industry associations and that will ultimately lead to higher costs, the Security Industry Registry will assume the role of main regulatory body in NSW. The new regulatory body will be called the Security Licensing and Enforcement Directorate (SLED) and its role and resources will be expanded so it can identify and investigate non compliance with the Security industry Act 1997. Such investigation will be ‘proactive’ as well as undertaken in response to complaints from the industry.The motivation for the creation of SLED is that while laws have been introduced to allow heavy penalties for non compliance with the regulations, effective enforcement has not occurred and the intended effect of the reforms has not taken place. From the supplier, consultant and technicians perspective, the result of all this will be higher fees as SLED will be twice the size of SIR and the funds for its governance must come from the industry itself. It’s a change that’s likely to annoy security electronics and networks people in the industry who will have to fork out more dollars in a tough environment for a license that really has no impact on their business model. How much more? Try $5 million more. The big question distributors and techs will ask is whether the new rules will apply to those installing IP security devices on blue cable. And in my opinion, the complexity of governing the IT industry is so great there will be no useful change here. Those companies that no longer want to pay membership fees to an association – which are generally based on their turnover – will be pleased to find they will soon be able to do business without this titular headlock. It remains to be seen whether or not the math will result in a saving overall. It might.