Protective Security in Australia: Scandal, Media Images and Reform

Abstract

This paper reports on the current status of police and security education in Australian universities and technical colleges. The study was undertaken in the context of calls for greater professionalisation of policing and security along with a variety of conduct scandals that have driven reform agendas for both sectors. The study found that police studies had a significant profile in universities with a wide range of courses available, but virtually no profile in technical and further education (TAFE) colleges. Conversely, protective security offerings were proportionately more prominent in the TAFE sector than in universities. Courses in information and communication technology security were more common across universities and TAFE. The research also found that, of the 39 Australian universities, 9 have research centres related generally to policing and security. These also appeared to favour policing over security. We argue that these findings should be of concern, given the fact that private and public sector security services have eclipsed police, in numbers at least, in many jurisdictions. Security should, we argue, be counted as an equal partner with police in crime prevention services. In addition, we argue that those engaged in security management should be given greater opportunities for study at the university level. Moreover, security studies should have an expanded research focus.