Penalties

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Labour hire licensing acts to protect workers and improve the transparency and integrity of the industry.

To support these outcomes, the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) (LHL Act) sets out penalties for a range of unlawful behaviour by labour hire providers and hosts.

The tables below outline these contraventions and their related maximum penalties.

The LHL Act defines penalty values as a specific number of ‘penalty units’, which are indexed each year to maintain their real value.

For the financial year 2024-25, the value of a penalty unit is $197.59.

2024-25 Financial Year

Unlicensed labour hire services

Individuals or organisations who either provide labour hire services without a licence, or who engage an unlicensed provider:

  • $158,072 for an individual
  • $632,288 for a corporation.

Advertising labour hire services while unlicensed

Individuals and organisations advertising that they provide labour hire services without a current licence:

  • $39,518 for an individual
  • $158,072 for a corporation.

Avoidance arrangements

Individuals or organisations who enter into an arrangement for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing labour hire licensing obligations imposed by the LHL Act:

  • $158,072 for an individual
  • $632,288 for a corporation.

Hosts must notify the Labour Hire Authority if they become aware or reasonably suspect an avoidance arrangement is in place. Failure to do so may result in penalties of:

  • $39,518 for an individual
  • $158,072 for a corporation.

Failing to notify LHA

Licensed providers who fail to notify LHA of specified changes to their business:

  • $7,903.60 for an individual
  • $31,614.40 for a corporation.

Failing to report information to LHA

Licensed providers must report information about their labour hire activities every 12 months to LHA. Individuals or organisations who fail to comply face penalties of: :

  • $39,518 for an individual
  • $158,072 for a corporation.

What are my obligations after cancelling my licence?

Former licence holders must retain all documents relating to the business of providing labour hire services and make the documents available for inspection for six years after the licence ceases to be in force. 

Former licence holders who do not make those documents available for inspection may face penalties of:

  • $39,518 for an individual
  • $158,072 for a corporation.

Other obligations

As well as obligations under labour hire law, hosts may be liable for a provider’s contraventions under workplace and migration law, and have shared responsibility for workplace safety.