A total of AUD$2 million (£600,000/$1.5 million/€1.3 million) will be spent to train the guards, who will patrol buildings and events during next year's Games in Australia.

According to the Gold Coast Bulletin, it brings the overall number of security guards to 4,200 for the Games.

MSS Security, Wilson Security, SecureCorp and SNP were appointed to provide more than 4,000 security personnel during the Games last December.

It will be the largest security workforce appointed in Australia in the past decade, with 30 per cent set to be recruited from south-east Queensland.

"More than 30 per cent of the security workforce deployed must reside in either the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Logan, Redland or Ipswich local authority areas, ensuring jobs for residents across the south-east," Peter Beattie, Gold Coast 2018 chairman, told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

The new security guards will be trained by the security providers over several weeks, with the aim of securing licences.

The latest security update comes in a week when the Gold Coast City Council confirmed their budget for 2017-2018.

A total of AUD$2 million (£600,000/$1.5 million/€1.3 million) was allocated for extra closed circuit security cameras around the Gold Coast for the Games.

The budget also set aside AUD$3.2 million (£1.9 million/$2.4 million/€2.1 million) to boost pathways and cycle lanes in the build-up to the multi-sport event. 

A further AUD$20 million (£12 million/$15.5 million/€13.5 million) will help to upgrade state Government facilities, while the Games festival programme will be supported by funding of AUS$11.3 million (£6.7 million/$8.5 million/€7.6 million).

"The Games will be an historic event in our city's history and they are now only nine months away," said Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, according to the Brisbane Times.

"This budget lays the foundation to take us past the Games and to put our city way ahead."

Gold Coast 2018 is due to take place between April 4 and 15.