• Legislation & regulations

The Labour Hire Authority (LHA) took significant action against labour hire companies in Victoria’s construction industry in 2025 and will further increase its focus on the industry as new legislative powers take effect progressively.

Bill passed to strengthen LHA powers

In December, the Victorian Parliament passed a bill to strengthen the Labour Hire Authority’s (LHA) powers to further address unlawful conduct in labour hire and the construction industry.

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, the Labour Hire Legislation Amendment (Licensing) Bill broadly:

• adds circumstances in which a person may not be a ‘fit and proper person’ to operate a labour hire business, including where a close associate is not fit and proper
• clarifies the definition of labour hire services, to better cover arrangements in a supply chain and activities defined in labour hire regulations  
• strengthens LHA’s powers to request information to support compliance monitoring
• broadens LHA’s ability to publish contextual information around licensing actions to promote compliance and educate hosts and providers.

The stronger powers granted to LHA will complement work by other agencies, including Victoria Police, to promote compliance across the construction industry.

The strengthened powers will be implemented progressively. LHA will provide further information to providers and stakeholders about the timing of each phase of their implementation.

New regulations on psychosocial hazards in the workplace

Victorian businesses should be aware of significant changes in workplace safety regulations, with new rules addressing psychosocial hazards that came into effect from 1 December 2025.

These changes are especially important for businesses in the construction industry, where workers experience levels of depression, anxiety and stress at rates estimated to be 40 per cent higher than average.

The new regulations recognise that psychosocial hazards are just as important as physical hazards, creating new obligations for Victorian employers to identify and manage risks associated with psychosocial hazards.

To maintain their licence, labour hire providers need to comply with these obligations, and to identify psychosocial hazards such as aggression, bullying or sexual harassment, and to control related risks.

As well as being a licence requirement, creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace improves wellbeing, reduces incidents, and boosts productivity, helping both workers and businesses. For more information on psychosocial hazards, including employer and employee resources, visit the WorkSafe Victoria website.

Improving transparency

LHA publishes the details of recent enforcement actions in the construction industry on its construction industry webpage: labourhireauthority.vic.gov.au/construction

This information aligns with LHA’s mission to improve transparency in the labour hire industry and reflects public interest in the integrity of Victoria’s construction industry.

The amendments to the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) that will come into effect in 2026 will enable LHA to publish more contextual information around licensing actions – such as the circumstances that led to a licence cancellation.