Blade 1 of 5 · Licences
Who may sell and install shutters
In New South Wales, NSW Police says that, with some exceptions, people who sell or install roller shutters need a Class 2B and/or a Class 2C security licence. The other states’ and territories’ licensing pages read for this guide do not name shutters, so what follows is what each one says its licences cover, and no more.
General information, not legal advice. Each licensing body is linked at the foot of this page, and its word is the one that counts.
New South Wales: the one page that names shutters
The NSW Police Force’s Security Licensing and Enforcement Directorate (SLED) answers a question from someone who sells fencing, including security fencing. Its answer, in full:
“Generally, yes. With some exceptions (see Security Licence Exemptions), individuals who sell or install security doors, roller shutters or other forms of security equipment, or who provide advice about such equipment (for example, by assessing customers’ needs and recommending appropriate products), are required to hold a Class 2B and/or a Class 2C security licence.”
The two subclasses it names
SLED’s Class 2 page describes the subclasses this way.
- Class 2B Security Seller
- Among the activities the page lists: “Sell security equipment and provide advice on its use. You are not licensed to install, maintain or repair security equipment”
- Class 2C Security Equipment Specialist
- “sell, install, maintain, repair, service and provide advice in relation to security equipment. This includes electronic security equipment like CCTV cameras and alarm systems and barrier equipment like fencing and security roller doors. You can also work as a locksmith”
On training, the page says: “You don’t need to provide our office with evidence of having completed formal training if you want to apply for a Class 2B or 2C licence, however you will be expected to have the necessary skills and relevant qualifications to enable you to carry your work safely and in accordance with other relevant industry guidelines.”
The exceptions it points to
Two of the exemptions on SLED’s exemptions page touch home work, and neither names shutters. People in building, construction or home maintenance who install basic security equipment like locks are exempt, but that exemption “does not include locksmiths or people selling, repairing, maintaining or providing customised advice on other security equipment like CCTV cameras and security fencing.” The handyman exemption has its own limit: “This does not include builders, handymen or other tradespeople who are specifically contracted or hired to install, repair or maintain security equipment.”
Seeing the licence
A Class 2 licence comes with conditions. SLED tells holders: “You must display your licence at all times when carrying out security activities.” They must also produce it for inspection on demand by a police officer “or any person you have dealings while carrying out any security activity.”
The other states and territories
None of the pages below names shutters. Each one says what its security licences cover, which is where a question about a particular job begins.
| Where | What the page says the licence covers | Shutters named? |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland | The Security Providers Act 1993 defines a security equipment installer as “a person who, for reward, installs, repairs, services or maintains security equipment.” | No |
| Victoria | Victoria Police says that from 19 June 2025 every private security activity became a licensed activity. | No |
| Western Australia | WA Police says its security installer licence authorises the holder to install, maintain and repair security equipment controlled by the Act, and that, under the regulations, installers fall into four classes. Class 3 covers installing, maintaining and repairing security doors. Class 4 covers installing locks; Class 1 covers installing, maintaining and repairing locks, as well as safes and vaults. Each covers equipment of a kind set out in the regulations. The installer licence does not cover fitting security equipment in vehicles, vessels or aircraft. An installer who is self-employed, or subcontracts under their own ABN, must also hold their own Security Agent’s licence. | No |
| South Australia | A security agent’s licence is needed for work that includes “installing and maintaining security systems” and “security systems sales and advice”. | No |
| ACT | Security employee subclasses include “2B: sell security equipment” and “2E: install, maintain, monitor, repair or service security equipment.” | No |
| Tasmania | Consumer Affairs Tasmania’s table of security licence activities does not name security equipment or shutters. | No |
| Northern Territory | The NT says its security providers must be licensed, naming security officers, crowd controllers and security firms. | No |
More from Queensland’s Act
The Act also says who is not a security equipment installer merely because of what they do. Two of those cases are a person who installs a basic security item in a building they own or occupy, and a person who installs one in someone else’s building “during its construction, repair or renovation.” Basic security items include “a barrier security item”, with the Act’s own example: “a security mesh door or window grille”. The pages read here do not say whether a roller shutter is security equipment under the Act.
Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading keeps “a public register of all licensed security industry employees and firms” that anyone can search online for free. It adds that the free register “is for your information only. You cannot use it as evidence in legal proceedings.”
More from Victoria
Under its heading on home security systems, Victoria Police says no private security licence is needed to install a security system at your own property, but anyone who helps with the installation must hold the right licence.
An installer can say which licence covers their work in your state before the job starts. In NSW, the conditions on a Class 2 licence require the holder to produce that licence on demand to any member of the NSW Police Force, or to anyone they deal with while doing security work.