New FY: Make sure you are across changes to tax, wages and Payday Super

The start of the new financial year brings several important changes to workplace laws that employers must be aware of, in addition to labour hire law changes in effect from 1 June.

Labour hire providers should also update the Labour Hire Authority (LHA) with any changes to their business or its relevant persons, and check their payroll reflects changes to super, minimum and award wages from 1 July.

Changes to labour hire law

Providers should be aware of new information they may need to provide to LHA, after changes to Victoria’s labour hire laws came into effect on 1 June, 2026.

The following changes have been implemented for all labour hire licence holders and applicants:

• People who wish to be involved in running a labour hire company – as a nominated officer or relevant person – need to pass a more rigorous ‘fit and proper person test’.
•  LHA has more scope to consider previous, current and ongoing compliance with relevant laws, as well as a wider range of relevant laws, to make licensing decisions – including to refuse an application or cancel a licence.
• To apply for or renew a licence, a labour hire business now needs to declare that it is financially viable, and LHA must be satisfied that a business is financially viable.

For more information on the changes, visit Changes to labour hire laws: What providers need to know.

Check and update licence details

You must keep licence details up to date to ensure you receive critical LHA notices. It is also a requirement under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) to notify LHA of certain changes – significant penalties apply for non-compliance.

Check your business and contact details on the LHLO portal and ensure the name and contact details for your nominated officer are correct. There is guidance available to help you update your nominated officer.

Responding to LHLO portal notifications

LHA issues a range of critical requests and notices to licence holders and applicants via the LHLO portal, including: 

• requests for information, to clarify aspects of an application or a business’ relevant persons
• reminders such as upcoming licence renewals, fee payments and annual reports
• compliance and enforcement notices. 

It is crucial that nominated officers respond to any notices in a timely manner, to avoid delays and risks of non-compliance. Failure to respond or provide a satisfactory response may provide grounds to refuse an application or cancel a licence.

Reminders for nominated officers

It is important that nominated officers fulfil their obligations, including to:

•  notify LHA of any changes to contact information, such as the address of your registered office
• notify LHA within 30 days if any relevant person (such as a director or senior manager) is no longer compliant with legal obligations as required by section 23(1A) of the Act
• add or remove a relevant person via the LHLO portal, particularly if this arises from changes to officeholders of a corporate entity
• submit annual reporting as required by section 34 of the Act
• pay the annual licence fee as required by section 35 of the Act.

Failure to fulfil these obligations may result in LHA compliance or enforcement action, including licence cancellation and prosecution.

Nominated officers should regularly check their LHLO portal account for notices from LHA and respond within any specified timeframes.

If you need assistance making updates to your business details, contact the LHA Enquiries team on 1300 545 200 or at enquiries@labourhireauthority.vic.gov.au

Hosts: Ensure your labour hire provider is licensed

It is crucial that hosts check to ensure the providers they are engaging to supply workers are licensed to operate in Victoria.

Under the Act, penalties for using or providing unlicensed labour hire services can exceed:

• $660,000 for a corporation
• $160,000 for an individual.

Check your existing providers

Hosts should not rely on paper documentation to check the validity of a licence – always use the tools on the LHA website:

• Check a provider is licensed using LHA’s Labour Hire Licence Register.
• Stay up to date on any changes to a provider’s licence status using the Follow my Providers tool.
• Report any suspected non-compliant or unlawful activity, such as if a provider’s bank details regularly change on invoices, using the Report a problem tool.

National Minimum Wage and award minimum wage increases

From 1 July 2026, the National Minimum Wage has increased by 4.75 per cent and is now $1,004.90 per week or $26.44 per hour. Minimum award wages have also increased by 4.75 per cent.

The increase applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. This means if a weekly pay period starts on Wednesday, the new rates will apply from Wednesday 1 July 2026.

Providers should ensure they understand and implement these changes as required to remain compliant with their obligations under the Act.

Most employees are covered by an award. The National Minimum Wage applies to employees who aren’t covered by an award or registered agreement.

According to the Fair Work Commission in its Annual Wage Review, just over 20 per cent of employees in Australia are paid at an applicable minimum wage rate under a modern award.

Payday Super

Payday Super requires employers to pay superannuation at the same time as wages, rather than quarterly. This means more frequent payments and tighter timeframes for small businesses.

From 1 July 2026, employers must:

• pay employees their super guarantee for each payday (instead of quarterly)
• calculate super based on an employee's qualifying earnings, which is a new term that brings together ordinary time earnings and other payments.

For more information and guidance, visit the Australian Taxation Office website.

Superannuation

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has highlighted key dates in July to be aware of:

• From 1 July, the superannuation guarantee rate has increased to 12 per cent.
• By 14 July, STP finalisation declarations are due.
• By 28 July, super guarantee contributions are due to your eligible workers’ super funds.
• On 29 July, all super payment will be allocated towards Payday Super super guarantee.

The ATO has information available to help you understand your obligations when engaging a worker.

Paid Parental Leave increase

Paid Parental Leave is increasing to 26 weeks from Wednesday 1 July 2026, giving families more support and time away from work. While the payments are government-funded, employers will need to manage longer employee absences.

For more information, visit the Services Australia website.