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In action filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Labour Hire Authority (LHA) alleges a Yarra Valley orchard sourced workers to pick and pack apples through an unlicensed company.

Under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic), the same penalties apply to businesses found using unlicensed labour hire services or providing those services – maximum penalties per breach exceed:

• $650,000 for a corporation
• $160,000 for an individual.

The defendants of the case include the orchard, the allegedly unlicensed labour hire company, and its director:

• H. & L.M Sanders Pty Ltd, trading as Sanders Apples, for allegedly procuring workers from an unlicensed provider
• Dombin Workforce Pty Ltd for allegedly supplying workers to the orchard without a labour hire licence on at least 30 occasions between 1 November 2023 and 18 June 2024
• Bintari Endang Purwati, the director of Dombin Workforce, for allegedly being knowingly concerned in, or a party to the contraventions of the Act.

Under Victorian law, businesses require a labour hire licence to supply workers to hosts to plant, pick, pack, sort, label, grade, thin, prune or spray plants.

The case is the latest arising from a significant focus by regulators on the Yarra Valley, including an LHA compliance operation in February, and a 2025 Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) report that highlighted the region’s horticulture sector as having among the lowest rates of compliance in Australia.

This week also saw Ombudsman Anna Booth and Commissioner Steve Dargavel hold a forum in Healesville with growers and labour hire providers, discussing common issues in the region and ways for providers and hosts to improve compliance. 

LHA urges all Victorian horticulture and viticulture businesses to ensure they are equipped with the tools and information they need to comply with the law, by visiting labourhireauthority.vic.gov.au/hort-host

Quotes attributable to Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner, Steve Dargavel:

“It’s critical that Victorian business-owners know this: you face the same significant penalties for using an unlicensed labour hire company as you do for being an unlicensed labour hire company.”

“We’ve made it easy for growers to avoid dodgy operators, so if you use an unlicensed provider, you can expect to feel the full force of the law.”