The AFL will move to overhaul its reliance on private security firms amid revelations a leading company providing hundreds of guards to Marvel Stadium has allegedly exploited its workers.
GSS Group has become the latest high-profile security firm to face serious questions about the treatment of its often migrant, gig-economy workforce following the dramatic collapse of security giant MA Services Group in December.
According to pay records and testimony provided by GSS guards who patrolled Marvel Stadium during AFL games and concerts, the firm repeatedly failed to pay award rates for weekend shifts and engaged subcontractors who routinely paid workers in cash.
The allegations against GSS are similar to those faced by MA Services, which provided security and cleaning services to several AFL clubs and was due to be a key sponsor of the Melbourne Demons until The Age revealed it was engaged in alleged widespread tax fraud and the underpayment and exploitation of migrant workers.
While the claims involving GSS are not on the same scale as MA, they highlight systemic integrity issues within the private security sector, and the risk to organisations reliant on private guards becoming embroiled in wage theft scandals.
Three sources with knowledge of the allegations facing GSS said the AFL-owned Marvel Stadium was tipped off earlier this year about the possible underpayment of guards and, after making inquiries, was assured by GSS the problem was quarantined to subcontractors and had been rectified.
However, six GSS guards provided this masthead with payslips dating from between 2024 and March of this year that revealed they had been paid a flat hourly rate of $40.04 – $8 an hour less than the legal award rate on a Saturday shift and $22 less for each hour worked on a Sunday.
Some of the guards are immigrants or students and said they feared they would lose shifts if they complained to GSS management.
But they also queried whether the AFL was doing enough to ensure GSS was acting lawfully in its treatment of guards and in its reliance on subcontractors to provide the surplus workforce needed on game days.
“I accepted it [underpayment] because it was my only option to find work, but no one should feel they have to accept work below their legal entitlements. It’s exploitative,” one guard, who continues to work at Marvel Stadium, said.
Another guard said he was disgusted not to receive the award rate and said responsibility for the failure lay not only with GSS, but also with Marvel. The stadium has been owned and operated by the AFL since 2016, and helped drive more than $1.2 billion in revenue last year, according to the league’s financial reports.
“It’s a disgrace,” the guard said. “But in fairness, it’s almost impossible to find a reputable security firm that does pay [staff] correctly.”
Another guard was recently ignored by GSS Group after raising concerns they had not been “remunerated in full compliance with the applicable award provisions”. The disgruntled employee made a complaint to the Fair Work Commission on May 4.
“My claim with Fair Work isn’t about the money necessarily, it’s the fact that these organisations try to get away with it, and it’s rife in this industry,” the guard said.
GSS Group ultimately repaid the former guard his entitlements on May 29, a day after The Age sent a series of questions to the company about its remuneration practices.
The guard was not provided with any notification, explanation, or payslip at the time of the reimbursement.
The Age has also been provided with WhatsApp messages which reveal at least two subcontractors used by GSS Group regularly made cash payments to guards. The Victorian Labor Hire Authority is aware of both firms and is investigating claims some guards receive as little as $30 cash an hour.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Marvel Stadium said the venue “expects all contractors to comply with the law” and that it was currently overhauling its security arrangements.
‘It’s a disgrace … But in fairness, it’s almost impossible to find a reputable security firm that does pay [staff] correctly.’
A security guard
“Over coming months the management of key elements of the stadium’s security will be moved in-house, with support from contractors for extra security guards for matches and major events,” the spokesperson said.
Security industry sources told The Age that the AFL, along with other major sporting codes, had become increasingly frustrated with rolling scandals in the private security sector and was supportive of an industry shake-up.
In the case of the MA Services scandal, supermarket giant Coles and major retailer Wesfarmers have denied allegations from Victoria’s Labour Hire Authority that they engaged MA in the knowledge the company was likely exploiting workers.
There is no such allegation facing Marvel Stadium, but its response to questions about GSS’s alleged underpayment of guards suggests the AFL is deeply concerned about exploitation within the private security sector that it has relied on for years to safeguard football fans and clubs.
A spokeswoman for GSS Group did not respond to questions from The Age, but announced it would launch an internal audit of its employment contracts following inquiries.
“While we are confident that our past employment contracts, which were subject to legal approval, are compliant, GSS will voluntarily engage external advisers to review the matters raised by The Age to determine if there are any issues,” the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman confirmed GSS had employed some guards on “individual flexibility arrangements”, which involved the payment of a flat rate over a seven-day working roster.
Under the arrangement, guards did not receive penalty rates for weekend shifts.
However, the spokeswoman said GSS Group had recently moved all staff to award rates and insisted cash payments were strictly prohibited under its agreements with subcontractors, or by Marvel Stadium policy.
“If we find that guards have been paid in cash, we will take immediate action and terminate that subcontractor. This strict GSS policy was restated to our subcontractors at meetings in April,” she said.
Last December, AFL clubs including Melbourne, Brisbane, Hawthorn and Essendon were forced to cancel their commercial arrangements with MA Services Group, after it was revealed to be linked to suspected tax evasion, worker exploitation and a bikie gang, while the firm’s owner Micky Ahuja was accused of sexually harassing and bullying employees.
The Melbourne Demons also abruptly ended its sponsorship agreement with MA, which required the removal of all club merchandise emblazoned with the MA Services Group brand.
Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.