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The Labour Hire Authority (LHA) has updated its cost guidance for the security industry for the 2025-26 financial year.

LHA uses its security industry guidance as a benchmark for assessing the risk of non-compliance with relevant legal obligations.

Low contract prices can signal a heightened risk of non-compliance with a provider’s legal obligations, including those related to workers’ pay, entitlements, and taxes.

Some security businesses use the guidance to support their own compliance and to highlight to prospective hosts the cost of meeting legal obligations to workers. Industry feedback suggests it is a valuable tool in contract negotiations.

The security industry remains a key focus area for LHA, to protect workers and continue to improve the transparency and integrity of the industry.

LHA continues to engage with:

• hosts and principal contractors about maintaining responsibility and transparency throughout their supply chains
• providers, about complying with their legal obligations, and by imposing conditions where appropriate to monitor compliance.

LHA also works closely with stakeholders and other regulators within the security industry, including meeting quarterly with the Victorian Security Industry Advisory Council (VSIAC) to engage and consult on labour hire related matters.

Where providers are unwilling or unable to comply with their legal obligations, LHA takes firmer compliance actions, including licence cancellation or legal action.

Read and download the 2025-26 security industry guidance.

Recent changes for the security industry

Businesses that engage or supply security workers should be aware of recent amendments to the Private Security Act 2004 (Vic) and the new Private Security Regulations 2025 (Vic) that came into effect on 19 June 2025 to ensure they continue to meet their legal obligations.

Some of these changes are of particular significance to businesses that supply or use labour hire, and tie in directly with LHA’s objectives of protecting labour hire workers from exploitation and improving transparency and integrity within the industry.

Providers who fail to comply with new obligations may have their licence cancelled.

To deter intentional misclassification of workers, the amendments include a new requirement that workers engaged as independent contractors hold a private security business licence, in addition to a private security individual operator licence.

This amendment applies from 19 December 2025.

Security businesses involved in non-compliance with this new obligation may be subject to compliance action by Victoria Police’s Licensing and Regulation Division (LRD) and have their licence cancelled by LHA.

The amendments include several changes around subcontracting arrangements:

• Providers, at both the principal contractor and subcontractor level, are now required to gain written consent from the host/client at least one day before subcontracting (or within three days after commencement for subcontracting on ‘short notice’).
• At the time of seeking written consent from the host/client, the provider must give the client/host a written notice that includes the names and licence numbers of each proposed subcontractor.
• ‘Subcontractors’ now includes both businesses that are providers under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic), and workers engaged as independent contractors.

Some of these new subcontracting records will now be deemed to be permanent records under the Private Security Act.

The amendments also introduce new requirements around risk management plans, in a form approved by the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police.

A mandatory code of conduct is also in development by the Chief Commissioner, as part of the amendments.

For more information, visit the Victoria Police website.

Full details of the changes can be viewed on the Victorian legislation website.

LHA communication campaign for host businesses

An LHA communications campaign launching in August will target labour hire hosts in all industries – especially hosts using labour hire services such as commercial cleaning, security guards or temporary staff.

Building on the recent campaigns targeting horticulture and meat processing hosts, this activity runs across digital, radio, social and traditional media channels.

Advertisements encourage hosts to use the tools on the LHA website to check the labour hire licences of any providers they engage.

Information for hosts – along with English and translated versions of posters, handouts and digital assets – will be available for businesses and stakeholders to download on the Host web page.

Increased focus on taxation non-compliance and illegal phoenix activity

Complex supply chains are often used to conceal taxation non-compliance and illegal phoenix activity.

Improving supply chain transparency helps to disincentivise, detect and respond effectively to non-compliance, and is crucial in protecting workers from exploitation.

To date, LHA has participated in three major multi-agency operations focused on tax avoidance and illegal phoenixing in the security industry. These compliance risks are also featuring more and more regularly in LHA’s own casework.

LHA continues to work with other regulators such as the LRD and the Australian Tax Office, to discourage, detect and respond effectively to these risks. These efforts include:

• strategically sharing intelligence and information
• working together to identify and act against decision-makers behind these behaviours.