Guard SelectChosen.
Not rostered.
Guard Select is a licensed New Zealand security company that lets clients book you directly. Your licence, your training and your record finally work for you, not for someone else's roster.
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.
Pay that hasn't kept up
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 belongs to someone else
Years of good work sit in your last employer's files. Change companies and you start again from zero.
No say over your shifts
You get rostered, not chosen, with little choice over where, when or who you work for.
Training stops at the CoA
Long, unpredictable shifts leave no room to grow, and nobody pays you more when you do.
We built Guard Select to change that. Fair pay, a record you own, free training, and the respect this work has always deserved. Kotahitanga, standing together, is written into how the platform treats every guard on it.
Guard SelectHow it works, and what you earn
The platform does the office work an agency used to do, so more of the money reaches you.
Upload your CoA and we check your classes and expiry. Add your IRD number, IR330C and Stripe payouts.
Experience, skills, licence classes and availability. It stays private until you switch it on.
Clients find you and send an offer. Accept it or decline it. No penalty for saying no.
Contact details are shared 8 hours before. One-tap check-in on site and an emergency location button.
The client pays at booking. The money is held until the shift is confirmed, then released to you with a payslip.
That's $32.01 an hour. The client pays their own 3% booking fee on top. It never comes out of your rate.
A floor, not a ceiling. Minimum hourly rates by tier, and your tier rises with your score. Clients can offer you more, and you're free to decline. Minimum booking three hours.
Per hour, after the costs you fund yourself as a contractor.
| Agency employee | Standard $33 | Advanced $35 | Senior $38 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You receive | $25.00 | $32.01 | $33.95 | $36.86 |
| After holiday pay and ACC | $25.00 | $28.46 | $30.18 | $32.77 |
| After every entitlement | $25.00 | $24.79 | $26.28 | $28.54 |
At entry level you come out about level, and gain the choice of shifts, your own clients, a record you own and free training. From Advanced up, you're ahead.
Agency pay of $25/hr assumed from NZ averages. Holiday pay 8%, ACC ~3.1%, KiwiSaver 3%, 10 sick days, 12 public holidays. GST-exclusive.
Tax handled at source
Withholding tax is deducted at your IR330C rate and paid to Inland Revenue, with a payslip every time. No lump sum at year end. You still file your own return, and the app estimates your ACC.
Your call, every time
Choose your shifts. Decline any offer without penalty. Work for anyone else as well. The one rule: once you accept a booking, you see it through.
Free to join
Free 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 (under $1 a week) while you stay subscribed.
Your private details stay private.
Clients never see your bank account, IRD number, licence images, date of birth, home address or health notes. Your profile is only visible to clients when you switch it on.
Guard SelectYour record. Not your employer's.
Every shift you've worked through an agency built their reputation. On Guard Select, every shift builds yours, and it goes wherever you go.
Bring your own clients
Share your profile link with anyone you've worked for. They book you directly, the platform handles the paperwork, payment and tax, and you keep 97% of your rate.
What your profile holds
- Your verified licence classes and expiry date
- Jobs completed, hours worked and client ratings
- Academy badges and certificates
- Your Guard Select score and tier
- Your experience, skills and availability
Your CoA is the first entry. Every shift, review and course adds to it.
How clients find you
Clients search by area, licence class, tier, training badges and reviews. Before they book, they can see your verified CoA and the training you've completed. You're picked for your skills, not to fill a gap in a roster.
Rostered or chosen?
| On someone's roster | On Guard Select | |
|---|---|---|
| Who picks you | A scheduler filling gaps | A client who has seen your record |
| Your rate | Set for you | Your tier floor, and clients can offer more |
| Saying no | Can count against you | No penalty |
| Your record | Stays with the company | Goes wherever you go |
| Training | CoA, then nothing | Free Academy, badges on your profile |
Tarquyn Read has worked in New Zealand security since 1999 as a guard, a company owner and a client, and has trained security staff in defensive tactics for over 20 years. He built Guard Select himself and wrote its Academy.
Guard SelectNew powers. New responsibility. Get ahead now.
Anyone may now 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 NZSA says: only when lawful, necessary, proportionate and safe, and only by trained people. Train now, and be the guard clients trust with it.
The Guard Select Academy: Foundation series
Free · on your phone · around any rosterStart here. It unlocks the rest. Your safety and duty of care come first.
Read a person and a situation, cooperative to assaultive, and see trouble building.
The decision before you act: engage, disengage or delay, and why.
Talk it down. Communication that de-escalates and offers a way out.
Trespass, reasonable force, citizen's arrest: what you can and can't do.
Write the record that protects you if it goes to Police or court.
A five-day, trainer-assessed course run by the NZSA: safe physical intervention, restraint, escape from confrontation and positional safety, plus legal powers, Stop-Assess-Decide and de-escalation.
Apply at security.org.nz. A pass isn't guaranteed.
Walk in ready with the free Academy
- LAWlegal powers and their limits
- PCA · TENRsituational awareness, risk and decisions
- AWOCAcommunication and de-escalation
- TORincident reporting and evidence
- PSRyour safety and duty of care
- Download Guard Select from the App Store or Google Play.
- Create your profile. It stays private until you switch it on.
- Do PSR for free and earn your first badge.
Tarquyn Read, Founder · 027 261 6332 · admin@guardselect.co.nz · guardselect.co.nz
Be the change. Join the movement.
SCAN TO DOWNLOADAcademy courses are professional development and don't replace mandatory CoA training. The Advanced Security Officer course is run by the NZSA, not Guard Select; dates, fees and entry requirements at security.org.nz. Not legal advice. Sources: MBIE (2024); Crimes Amendment Act 2026; NZSA.