Chosen. Not Rostered: The Guard Select Brochure for NZ Security Guards

Read the full four-page brochure: open the Guard Select brochure for guards. It works on your phone, and the Save as PDF button gives you a printable copy to keep or pass on.

You're the first line, not a warm body

Guards are first on scene at hospitals, events, shops and critical sites, making split-second calls that carry real risk. Yet the way work reaches you has hardly changed in decades. In 2022, about 6 in 10 security workers earned within 20% of the minimum wage, and 3 in 4 earned below the national median. Your record sits in your last employer's files, you get rostered rather than chosen, and training usually stops at the CoA.

Guard Select Limited is a licensed New Zealand security company (PSPLA company licence 26-141664, all nine classes, no conditions) that lets clients book you directly. We built it to change that: fair pay, a record you own, free training, and the respect this work has always deserved.

What you earn

You keep 97% of your rate on every shift. One 8-hour shift at the $33 Standard rate is $264.00. The 3% platform fee is $7.92, so you receive $256.08, or $32.01 an hour. The client pays their own 3% booking fee on top, and it never comes out of your rate.

• Minimum rates by tier: Standard $33, Advanced $35, Senior $38, Elite $40. A floor, not a ceiling: clients can offer more, and you're free to decline.
• Withholding tax is deducted at your IR330C rate and paid to Inland Revenue, with a payslip every time. You still file your own return.
• Free to join now. A small subscription starts at 250 guards, only to keep the platform running. Join before then to lock in $5 a month or $50 a year while you stay subscribed.

We're straight about the trade-off. As a contractor you fund your own holiday pay, ACC, KiwiSaver, sick days and public holidays. At the entry rate you come out about level with a $25-an-hour agency job once every entitlement is counted, and you gain the choice of shifts, your own clients, a record you own and free training. From Advanced up, you're ahead. The brochure shows the full comparison.

Your record, not your employer's

Your Guard Select profile holds your verified licence classes, jobs completed, hours, client ratings, Academy badges and your tier. Clients search by area, licence class, tier, badges and reviews, and they see your verified CoA and training before they book. You're picked for your skills, not to fill a gap in a roster.

Share your profile link with anyone you've worked for and they can book you directly. Your private details, including your bank account, IRD number, licence images, date of birth and home address, are never shown to clients.

New powers, new responsibility

Since August 2026, anyone may use reasonable force to detain a person committing any Crimes Act offence, at any time of day, but must contact Police and follow their directions. The New Zealand Security Association's position is that this should only happen when it is lawful, necessary, proportionate and safe, and only by trained people.

The free Guard Select Academy Foundation series takes about three hours on your phone: PSR (Personal Safety and Responsibility), PCA (Perceived Cumulative Assessment), TENR (Threat, Exposure, Necessity, Response), AWOCA (Ask, Why, Options, Confirm, Act), NZ Security Industry Law and TOR (Tactical Options Reporting). Each course ends with a 20-question test with an 80% pass mark and a badge for your profile. The courses are built on the same decision-making frameworks used by New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Army.

The NZSA is now taking applications for its five-day Advanced Security Officer course, with dates from 19 October to 4 December 2026. Apply at security.org.nz. The course is run by the NZSA, not Guard Select, and the Academy is a good way to walk in prepared.

Start small, start tonight

1. Download Guard Select from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Create your profile. It stays private until you switch it on.
3. Do PSR for free and earn your first badge.

Questions? Call 027 261 6332 or email admin@guardselect.co.nz.

Be the change. Join the movement.
Yours faithfully,
Tarquyn Read, Founder, Guard Select

Academy courses are professional development and don't replace mandatory CoA training. General information, not legal advice. Pay data: MBIE Security Guard Sector Report (2024, 2022 data).