Gary Morrison: Security Association Chief Executive on Woolworths calling for tougher regulations to protect staff from assault

Woolworths is calling on the Government to implement tougher changes amid an increase in retail crime.

The retailer says physical assaults on staff jumped 50 percent in the past year, with 329 incidents against 219 from the year before.

Security Association Chief Executive Gary Morrison says the current trespass laws need updating to protect workers.

"It's not just trespass rules, we're talking about citizen's arrest, we're talking about breach of the peace, etc. So there's other opportunities there... we're in discussion with Minister Mark Mitchell about the same issues."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now Woolworths is calling on the government to help a
deal with ongoing retail crime. They reckon that physical assaults
in store have increased fifty percent just in the last year,
and they want tougher trespars laws, which they reckon will help.
Gary Morrison is the CEO of the Security Association with
US nowhy Gary, Yeah, Hi, Heather, So do you think
the trestparslors need updating?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Definitely? It all refers back to the crimes at nineteen
sixty one. So we're talking about very old legislation and
whilst it covers what needs to be covered, it's very
old wording and very difficult to understand and comply with.
We fully support the.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Argument, Okay. So their argument seems to be that if
you trespass somebody from misbehaving in one Wilworth store, that
does not trespass them from the others. And if they're
misbehaving one will Worth store, they're just going to go
to another one and do the same thing, and they
need permission to trespass them across all premises. Would you agree?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Hope you agree? Yes?

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Are they going to listen to that though? I mean,
if somebody's coming in and assaulting assaulting other people in
a store. It's hardly as if they're going to give
two it's about trespass laws.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
I think they're sort of a wider discussion about what
security can do at that stage as well. And it's
not just trespass. We're also talking about citizens arrest, we're
talking about breach of the peace, et cetera. So there's
other opportunities there have this ability to or retain property
or retrieve property. So we're actually in discussion with Minister
Mark Mitchell on exactly the same issues. What is critical

(01:24):
for us is to have some support from the police
and to have appropriate training in conjunction with that as well.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Okay, so citizens arrest, you want security guards to be
able to do this.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
In the right situation with right training. Yes, we should
be able to retrieve property and if it's appropriate and
it's safe to do so, to detain offenders, but that
obviously needs the support of the police to be able
to do that as well.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Retrieve property, by that, do you mean like actually take
it off these people?

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Correct before we exit the store?

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Can security guards actually not do that?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
No effect? Well, I shouldn't say no flat out because
the Crimes Act actually allows it, but it's very difficult
to make that interpretation. And currently the advice would be
not to engage with offenders because of the risk and
the uncertainty that security staff could actually be arrested themselves
for assault. Exactly. Yeah, that's great, and that's a gray
area that sits within the law. Okay, we believe there

(02:21):
are some fairly simple changes that could be made fairly
quickly before conducting a fairly significant review of the Crimes Act,
just to start changing the messaging and the perception that's
out there with what with regards to what can be done?

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Do security guards themselves want to be able to do this?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Not across the board, and it would only be staff
who have got the right skills and the right attitude
and aptitude to do so, and who have gone through
their preparate training. And ideally for us, that training could
well involved working with the police to make sure they've
got a full understanding from a more of a policing
perspective as well. It is high risk and it would
only be or a small number of very well qualified

(03:02):
and trained stuff, right, so.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
You could potentially do it, like not all security guards
can do this, but if you reach a certain qualification,
then you can do that.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yet exactly it would been a form of accreditation linked
to training and licensing that would very clearly identify which
staff could do that.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Okay, at the moment, security guards are just warm bodies
standing there, aren't they.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
I think it goes attle bit beyond that. They do
provide a protective function. They are there as eyes and ears.
They do minimize risk and if something happens, they are
there's controlled the situation, et cetera. So I think we
have to give due credit to what they do, but
it is limited with regards to the powers they have currently.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Gary best of like trying to get this one across
the line, because it seems like that one's common sense
as well. That's Gary Morrison's CEO of Security Association. For
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