There is an important point which is lost on Vic hotel quarantine. That private security was used isn't the issue. The issue is that the contract was poorly managed, if indeed it was 'managed' at all. It doesn't actually matter who is administering the service. Whoever it is

1/5

...needs to be subject to a contract with clear deliverables which can be measured and audited, and which ARE measured and audited, with painful consequences as soon as standards start to slip. This seems to have been a 'fire and forget' affair, with the people

2/5

...running it just left to get on with it in any way they saw fit. The ground rule for managing other humans is that they will always try to fail and disappoint you. The degree to which the management structure prevents that happening indicates how good that structure is.

3/5

When it comes to the security of the country, I suggest that better management practices are needed than to hire nightclub bouncers and allow them to subcontract others to run the service with essentially no supervision. But it doesn't matter who the contractor was:

4/5

...private contractor, ADF, police, prison staff, whoever, they still need to be closely managed. Everyone will try to disappoint. They must not be allowed to. This was gross incompetence, yes, but the failure was not the hiring of private security companies per se.

5/5