• Compliance & enforcement

Labour Hire Authority (LHA) officers have identified several alleged issues, including unlicensed providers operating at meat processing facilities in south west Victoria.

LHA officers visited three meat and poultry facilities in May, reviewing records and interviewing workers, providers and hosts.

Under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic), penalties for using or providing unlicensed labour hire services can exceed:

• $630,000 for a corporation
• $150,000 for an individual.

During the visits, officers also identified concerns that licensed providers may not be meeting their legal obligations to:

• provide a safe working environment, including by providing personal protective equipment (such as safety boots) at no cost when workers require them for their work
• make superannuation contributions for their workers
• pay minimum rates and provide breaks required under the Meat Industry Award 2020.

Under the Act, providers must comply with all relevant laws and may have their licence cancelled for non-compliance.

The businesses operating the meat and poultry processing facilities cooperated fully with LHA compliance officers, in line with legal requirements.

LHA investigations into the circumstances around these alleged breaches are ongoing, along with consideration of appropriate compliance and enforcement action.

Compliance activities such as site inspections underscore LHA's commitment to enforcing labour hire law across industries and ensuring all parties in the labour hire supply chain adhere to their legal obligations.

Industry to remain under the microscope

LHA will continue to undertake site visits throughout 2025 as part of its compliance program in the meat and poultry processing industry.

In addition to the potential non-compliance found in May, LHA has identified several other common compliance issues within the meat and poultry processing industries, including providers:

• making unlawful deductions from workers’ wages for expenses that should be paid for by the provider
• paying workers “piece rates”, potentially resulting in underpayment
• providing substandard accommodation.

Meat and poultry processing businesses sometimes attempt to conceal potential exploitation of workers, including through worker misclassification or complex supply chains.

Further education has been undertaken in the industry with LHA hosting a webinar in May and launching a campaign targeting hosts in meat and poultry processing. Host businesses are being encouraged to check the licence of any current providers and when engaging new providers.

In addition, workers are being targeted with a campaign to encourage reporting of unsafe working conditions and underpayment of wages.

Further information about the campaign is available on the meat and poultry processing host page.

Check and follow your current providers

You can take two quick actions now to protect your business and support LHA in working towards a fairer industry for businesses and workers.

1. Check the licence of any provider you currently use.
2. Subscribe to be notified of any changes to your providers’ licence status.

To access LHA’s free tools and more information, please visit the Check a provider's licence status page.

Compliance and enforcement in meat and poultry processing

Around two per cent of all licensed labour hire providers in Victoria operate in the meat and poultry processing industries. This reflects the concentrated nature of labour in these industries, where a single facility may host up to 800 workers and process 1,000 animals per day.

The industries are also at higher risk of worker exploitation due to their high proportions of migrant workers from a range of backgrounds, including PALM scheme workers.

LHA has cancelled 131 labour hire licences in the meat processing industry to date, after uncovering non-compliance with legal obligations through LHA’s intelligence-led compliance program.

LHA may coordinate with other regulators and agencies such as WorkSafe, the Department of Health, Australian Taxation Office, Victoria Police and the Department of Justice and Community Safety for site inspections.

In December 2023, LHA identified two unlicensed providers and a range of other potentially non-compliant behaviour at site inspections of meat and poultry processing facilities.

Ridding the industry of non-compliant providers evens the playing field for operators doing the right thing and reduces exploitation of workers.

More information

For more information for meat and poultry processing businesses, visit the meat processing industry page, or download Meat and poultry processing: Guidance for labour hire providers and hosts.