Legal Powers and Arrest Course (Australia): Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Where your powers come from

A security licence lets you do security work for pay. It does not make you a police officer. In general, a security officer has the same legal powers as any other person, plus the authority the owner or occupier of a place gives you to act for them.

There is no single national law. Each state and territory makes its own laws about trespass, arrest and force. The arrest laws do not single out security officers. They speak of "any person" (Victoria, Queensland and WA) or "a person, other than a police officer" (NSW).

State	Citizen's arrest law
NSW	Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002, section 100
Victoria	Crimes Act 1958, section 458
Queensland	Criminal Code, section 546
Western Australia	Criminal Investigation Act 2006, section 25

To work in security you need a licence from your state or territory regulator, such as SLED (NSW Police Force) in NSW or the Licensing and Regulation Division of Victoria Police. The licence needs accredited training. This course does not replace that training.

Lesson 2: Asking people to leave and trespass

An owner or occupier can choose who comes onto private property. For licensed venues, NSW Government guidance says the venue can refuse entry or ask someone to leave without giving a reason, but the refusal must not be unfair or discriminatory.

NSW: Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901

Under section 4, a person commits an offence if they enter inclosed lands without lawful excuse and without consent, or if they remain after being asked to leave by the owner, the occupier or the person apparently in charge. A security officer on duty is often the person apparently in charge.

Inclosed lands are lands fully or partly enclosed by a fence, wall or similar boundary, and the buildings on them.
Prescribed premises, such as schools, child care services, hospitals and nursing homes, carry a higher penalty.
Section 4A makes it a separate offence, with a higher penalty, to stay after being asked to leave and behave in a way that reasonable people would find offensive.

Queensland: Summary Offences Act 2005

Section 11 says a person must not unlawfully enter or remain in a dwelling or its yard, or in a place used for a business purpose.

How to ask someone to leave

Ask politely and say who you are and who you act for.
Give the reason, if your site allows it.
Give the person a reasonable chance to collect their things and go.
If they refuse, explain that staying may be an offence.
Call police if they still refuse, and record what happened.

Lesson 3: Citizen's arrest in four states

A citizen's arrest means taking away a person's freedom to leave. It is serious, and the rules differ from state to state.

State	When any person may arrest without a warrant (in short)
NSW (s 100)	The person is in the act of committing an offence, has just committed one, or has committed a serious indictable offence and has not been tried for it.
Victoria (s 458)	The person is found committing an offence and you reasonably believe arrest is necessary: to make sure they go to court, to keep public order, to stop the offence continuing or being repeated, or for the safety or welfare of the public or the offender. Also when a police officer tells you to arrest someone.
Queensland (s 546)	You find the person committing an offence of a kind for which arrest without a warrant is allowed.
WA (s 25)	You reasonably suspect the person has committed, or is committing, an arrestable offence (one that can be punished with imprisonment).

In Victoria, "offence" for this purpose does not include breaking a regulation or by-law, unless an Act says otherwise.

An arrest is a last resort. Often the safest choice is to observe, write down a description and call police. If you are not sure an offence happened, do not arrest.

Lesson 4: After an arrest

Once you arrest someone, the law tells you what to do next. You cannot hold a person for as long as you like.

NSW: take the person, and any property found on them, before an authorised officer as soon as reasonably practicable. In this Act an authorised officer means a magistrate, a Local Court registrar or an authorised court employee, not a police officer. The safe step is to call police at once.
Victoria: take the person before a bail justice or the Magistrates' Court, or hand them to a police officer. If you arrested for a summary offence and the reason for the arrest no longer applies before any charge, the person must be released.
WA: as soon as practicable, arrange for a police officer to attend, or take the person and anything relevant to the offence to a police officer. You may hold the person until then. If the officer does not arrest them, they are no longer under arrest.

Force, entry and searching

In NSW, section 231 of the same Act lets a person making an arrest use only the force that is reasonably necessary to make the arrest or to stop the person escaping. WA's Act also limits force to what is reasonably necessary.

In WA, the arrest power does not by itself let you enter a place or vehicle where you think the suspect is. The arrest laws in this course also give no general power to search a person. Searches at a site are done with consent, often as a condition of entry.

Lesson 5: Working with police and staying within the law

Police expect security staff to help with enquiries about offences they witness. NSW SLED says that refusing to assist police with their enquiries is contrary to the public interest. That can lead to a show cause notice and the possible loss of your licence.

Checklist before you act

Do I have the owner's or occupier's authority for this?
Has an offence really happened, or is it a breach of house rules only?
Does my state's law allow an arrest in this situation?
Is there a safer option, such as refusing entry or calling police?
Can I hand the person to police quickly?

If you go beyond your legal powers, for example by holding someone without a lawful reason or by using too much force, you can face criminal charges, a civil claim and action against your licence.