According to the Labour Hire Authority - Victoria Govt. any business that provides labour-hire services or supplies one more worker to work in a business owned by another person/organisation needs to apply for a License to operate as a Labour Hire Provider in Victoria.

The last date for submitting your applications & requests is the 29th of October, 2019. Any business that is still operating without a license or pending application will be penalised with a substantial amount, with a maximum penalty for a natural person being more than $120,000 and for a corporation exceeding $500,000.

Not only are the companies that provide Labourers are fined, in fact any Host (Recruits Labour) that goes into an agreement after the 29th of October with a labour-hire provider who has not applied for, or who has been refused a labour-hire licence face similar fines ranging from a maximum $120,000 for a natural person to in excess of $500,000 for a corporation.

One can apply for a license at the LHLO (Labour Hire Licensing Online) Portal.

On a broader spectrum, the criteria which are taken to be a labour-hire (person or company), is where a business supplies workers to work:

• as a cleaner in a commercial premises
• in the horticultural industry - certain activities
• in a meat manufacturing/processing establishment - certain activities or
• poultry processing establishment - certain activities.

If the workers you supply perform work under any of these establishments or industries, you are likely to be providing labour-hire services and will require a licence under the LHL Act.

If you would like to know more details about the industries needing a license for labour hire services visit - “Industries where the supply of workers is taken to be labour hire”.

In accordance with the new act, any Host - person/company (Recruits Labour) is liable to pay a penalty if they go into an arrangement with non-licensed labour providers. A Host can be a business, farm/s or other organisations that use the services of labour-hire providers to obtain the labour for their enterprise.

The LHL Act assures that the licensed service providers have been assessed in relation to their compliance with a range of relevant State and Commonwealth laws and that they are a fit and proper person to hold a labour hire licence. This brings in a little change to the previous laws in place, but rather positive change to labour hire industry. Concluding it, We’d suggest all business owners to check if their Licenses are active or need renewal. Any business that needs to register, please do so at Labour Hire Authority - Victoria Govt. website and go through the details.

All the information presented in the article is in accordance with: Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic.) (the LHL Act) and the Labour Hire Licensing Regulations 2018 (Vic.) For further information & application process please visit:

Disclaimer: The information in this post is intended for general purposes only; it is not comprehensive and should not be taken as such. CleanPlan strongly recommends that Victoria’s Labour Hire Authority or professional legal advice be sought by businesses seeking information about labour hire registration under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018.