If you supply workers to other businesses — or you host labour-hire workers on your site — there are licensing and safety rules that bite. Here is where a licence is required, the safety duty you cannot shrug onto the agency, and the pay floor for on-hire tradies.
Where you need a labour-hire licence
Licensing is state-based — there is no national scheme — and it is mandatory in:
- Victoria (Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018), strengthened by late-2025 reforms (a tougher fit-and-proper test, a wider definition), staged into 2026.
- Queensland (2017).
- South Australia (2017) — expanded to all industries from 29 January 2026 (with a six-month transition to 29 July 2026).
- ACT.
NSW, WA, TAS and NT have no scheme — so a provider operating nationally needs a separate licence in each licensing state. Supplying without a licence where one is required carries significant penalties. Getting a licence means showing financial viability, passing fit-and-proper tests for directors, nominating a responsible officer, and reporting regularly.
Hosting labour-hire workers — your safety duty
If you bring on-hire workers onto your site, you are a PCBU and owe them the same primary safety duty as your own employees — you cannot treat WHS as the agency's problem:
- A safe environment, systems, plant and PPE — equally for on-hire and direct workers.
- Proper training, competence and day-to-day supervision.
- Consult, co-operate and co-ordinate with the agency (shared duties).
- A full site and task induction.
In Victoria, OHS law treats labour-hire workers as employees of both the host and the agency. Put a written host-provider agreement in place clarifying who provides training, PPE, supervision and incident management.
Pay for on-hire tradies
An on-hire construction worker must get at least the MA000020 award minimum for their classification — base, loadings and allowances — regardless of the labour-hire employer. Where the host has a higher EBA, the provider generally has to match the minimum entitlements that would apply if the worker were directly employed. Casual or daily-hire status has to be genuine and properly loaded — being "on-hire" is no excuse to undercut overtime, penalties or allowances. This is the direction of the "same job, same pay" reforms: labour hire cannot be used to systematically undercut award or agreement rates.
Common mistakes
- Supplying workers unlicensed in a licensing state.
- Treating on-hire WHS as the agency's job — you are a joint duty holder.
- Underpaying on-hire workers below the award (or below a directly-employed worker on the same job).
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