PEOPLE IN SECURITY
The Professional: Ngaire Kelaher It may not have been her first choice of career, but Ngaire Kelaher’s journey in security has provided her with decades of work fulfillment. And as the first ever female (and Maori) chair of ASIS International New Zealand Chapter, she is showing other women the opportunities this multifaceted industry can offer.
Joanna Mathers is a freelance feature writer with years of experience in publishing. She has a particular focus on business and innovation, and also regularly writes for New Zealand Herald’s Canvas magazine.
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South Auckland born and raised, Kelaher’s high school dream was to become a cop. Friends and family convinced her that security training was a great first step towards realising this goal: she laughs when she remembers the early conversations. “I was hearing [from many different people] that security was stepping-stone to becoming a cop. I still have no idea if that’s true!” With this eventuality in mind, she enrolled in a training course after she left school, at the New Zealand Security Industry Association (NZSIA) in the mid 1990s. The course offered in-depth training, including street survival, first aid and security law; as well as the raft of report writing and admin required for the industry. As part of the course, Kelaher worked (both overtly and covertly) in stores and malls in South Auckland. She was good at the undercover work, but as a South Auckland local, she soon started being recognised by recidivist offenders whom she had issued trespass notices to or caught shoplifting. “I was spotted out with my young family when we were shopping in the area,” she says. “It was starting to become a bit of an issue.” Looking for a change of locale, she was made aware of a position at TSS security services, a company run by Shirley Greer, in the mid-to-late 1990s. One of her main gigs here was security services at Westhaven Marina (she says that the nights here were eye-opening). “I had a bike for this job so I got a free workout and a tan,” she chuckles.
There were also jobs at events like Fashion in the Field, event security giving her another string to her bow. The period at TSS also marked a transition into an area where she would really make her mark in the security industry, as an educator. At the time there was little training for security professionals, Greer was looking to set up some formal training as an adjunct to her security firm, and she was shoulder-tapped for a position. “I really didn’t see it as my thing, I was a guard. And I couldn’t use the photocopier or even do filing!” Nevertheless, Kelaher undertook her own training as an assessor, becoming registered in this field. This allowed her to take people through the assessment process, looking at unit standards and ensuring the security professionals were adhering to these standards. Security training would eventually become NZQA approved, with industry courses feeding guards into the industry. She was part of this change, working at the “coalface” as the transition occurred. And as the industry training became formalised, she continued her own industry upskilling. While working as a guard she completed a National Certificate in Security alongside a National Certificate in Adult Education, which allowed her to become a trainer herself. Kelaher moved into a training role within TSS’s sister company, Training Systems and Solutions Ltd, while still working as a guard. She would work here for 16 years as training assessment manager, and then move
April/May 2021
