• Compliance & enforcement

The Labour Hire Authority (LHA) has revealed some major Australian corporations entered underpriced contracts with a security company that underpaid workers and did not comply with taxation and other laws.

LHA cancelled the labour hire licence of M.A Services Group Pty Ltd (MA Services Group) in January 2026.

The company can no longer operate or advertise in Victoria, and its decision-makers and directors – including Mr Micky Ahuja – will not be considered fit and proper to operate a labour hire company in Victoria for at least five years.

LHA had earlier imposed extensive conditions on MA Services Group’s labour hire licence, including requiring additional reporting that supported further action against the company.

LHA analysis of the company’s contracts revealed a troubling, two-tier pricing approach: while clients such as government agencies were billed ‘by the book’, some other large corporate clients paid rates too low for MA Services Group to cover its costs if it paid wages, benefits and taxation at lawful rates.

The issue highlights the need for action on multiple fronts, and to hold large, price-setting companies to account for conditions in their supply chains.

MA Services Group owes millions to creditors including subcontractors, government agencies, and labour hire workers, including migrant workers who are not entitled to the Federal Entitlement Guarantee.

Labour hire providers who do the right thing quite rightly demand to know what action is taken against hosts who are involved in cut-price contracts which result in lawbreaking.

If a host is concerned in a breach of the Fair Work Act 2009 – through cut-price contracts which lead to underpayments – then they can be held accountable through accessorial liability.

“We’ve referred these matters to the Fair Work Ombudsman which has the capacity and the capability to deal with unlawful conduct by hosts,” said Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner, Steve Dargavel.

“The conduct of MA has left workers, trade creditors and taxpayers out of pocket. Providers who comply with their obligations have lost market opportunity. It is important that customer demand for underpriced supply be deterred by the relevant agencies."

“Anyone who tries to profit off the kind of business model used by MA should be held to account,” said Commissioner Dargavel.