• Welcome articles

Stronger labour hire laws took effect last week for all labour hire licence holders and applicants.

We've kept you informed about these new laws as they moved from review recommendations into legislation, and many of you have engaged with the information we've provided.

LHA has been given stronger tools to refuse, cancel and prosecute providers who do the wrong thing, and these are backed by greater information-gathering and publication powers. Loopholes have been closed.

Of course, improving the integrity of the industry requires treating both the supply of, and demand for, unlawful practices.

Legitimate providers are entitled to expect regulators to move decisively against operators who enter into cut-price contracts or avoidance arrangements that cost workers, the community and legitimate businesses.

That means some regulators must target demand – those at the top of the supply chain who benefit from, and are involved in, non-compliant supply of labour hire services.

LHA’s regulatory powers mainly apply to the supply of these services. 

Providers will now need to positively satisfy LHA that they are run by people suitable to conduct a labour hire business. Licences may now be cancelled for breaches of a wider range of relevant laws, such as corporations law.

This includes a broader fit and proper person test: providers must be financially viable, professional, capable of compliance, and not under the influence or control of people who are not fit and proper.

In practice, this means LHA can more readily remove non-compliant providers and organised crime from the industry.

Providers need to do more than claim they comply – they need to demonstrate it. Those who cannot demonstrate financial viability, or who lack the capacity to run a compliant labour hire business, will find it difficult to obtain or retain a licence.

LHA expects providers to demonstrate compliance capacity – not as an aspirational statement, but in practice – and we apply additional focus to areas of higher risk.

Businesses with robust systems for ensuring compliance across their operations are well positioned to grow as those without the capacity to comply are removed from the industry.

Read on to learn more about the new laws, and to register for a free information session – online or in your local area – as part of our Regulatory Reform Roadshow in June and July.

I hope you enjoy this edition.

Steve Dargavel
Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner

In this edition

• Changes to labour hire laws: what providers need to know
• Record $830,000 in penalties for unlicensed provider who exploited migrant workers
• High-risk industries under the microscope during inspections of Mildura and Mornington Peninsula businesses
• Regulatory Reform Roadshow: Sessions for providers and stakeholders in June and July cover the 1 June law changes
• Providers subject to licensing action in April 2026

Licensing update

May 2026:

• 127 licence applications submitted
• 422 licence renewals granted
• 123 licences granted
• 97 licences refused or cancelled (by LHA or provider) 

Resources

• Payday Super starts on 1 July 2026. For information and guidance on how to ensure you comply with the change, visit the Australian Tax Office website.