Security staff for licensed venues
Licensees must provide a safe environment for patrons and staff. Employing licensed security staff may be required to screen patrons entering and exiting the premises, and to control patron behaviour in and around the premises.
Outside of the Brisbane City Council (BCC) area, licensees must comply with security requirements as per the conditions of their individual licences.
Within the BCC area, security providers must maintain surveillance in and around the licensed premises:
- from 11pm on nights when the premises trades after 1am
- for at least 1 hour after the premises closes (this includes the 30 minute 'grace period' that commences at closing time).
Licensees that trade after 1am within the BCC area must comply with security to patron ratios under the Liquor Regulation 2002. (This condition does not apply on nights where the premises close by 1am.)
Number of patrons at licensed premises | Number of crowd controllers required on premises |
|---|---|
1-100 | 1 |
101-200 | 2 |
201-300 | 3 |
301-400 | 4 |
401-500 | 5 |
Every 250 patrons over 500 patrons (or part thereof) | + 1 (minimum) additional |
Exemptions to employing security at licensed premises
Restaurants (holding a commercial other licence with the principal activity of provision of meals) are exempt from employing security providers in accordance with the ratio. The principal activity of a restaurant is not the sale of alcohol; and there is little evidence that restaurants significantly contribute to alcohol-related violence.
Employing licensed crowd controllers
When employing any security staff, ensure that they:
- are licensed under the Security Providers Act 1993
- dress in a way that distinguishes them from the crowd while working on the premises
- have completed responsible service of alcohol (RSA) training (for venues within the BCC area).
Note: It is best practice to employ security staff that have completed responsible service of alcohol training whether the licensed premises is in the BCC area or not.
You can be fined up to $16,130 for a first offence if you employ unlicensed crowd controllers.
Also consider...
- Read the Liquor Act 1992.
- Learn more about liquor fines and penalties for licensees and their staff.
- Take our complying with CCTV and crowd controller requirements for licensed venues refresher and test your knowledge with the quiz.