New year reminders – check your licence details and advise LHA of any changes to your business

6 February 2025
New year reminders – check your licence details and advise LHA of any changes to your business

The start of a new year is an opportunity for labour hire businesses to ensure they are up to date with their licence details and legal obligations.

Providers should ensure they advise LHA of any changes to their business or relevant persons, and check when licence renewal is due.

Keep licence details up to date

Providers can lower the risk of missing critical LHA notices by ensuring licence details are kept up to date. It is also a requirement under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) to notify LHA of certain changes; significant penalties can apply for non-compliance.

You can check your business and contact details on the Labour Hire Licensing Online (LHLO) portal and ensure the nominated officer’s name and contact details are correct. There is guidance available to help you update a nominated officer.

Reminders for nominated officers

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

  • notify LHA within 30 days if any relevant person (such as a director or senior manager) is no longer a fit and proper person under section 22 of the Act
  • notify LHA within 30 days if any relevant person is no longer compliant with legal obligations as required by section 23 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 the LHLO portal account for notices from LHA and respond within any specified timeframes.

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

Renew your labour hire licence early and avoid the risk

Labour Hire Authority (LHA) data shows many providers are waiting until the final weeks before their licence expires to submit a renewal application, running the risk of delays or potential penalties.

Providers should apply to renew as early as possible – the process usually takes less than 30 minutes, and renewals can be submitted up to six months in advance.

LHA sends monthly renewal reminders to nominated officers and relevant persons from six months before the licence expiry date.

There are strong reasons to renew early:

  • If your licence expires, you cannot advertise or provide labour hire services until a new licence is granted – substantial penalties apply.
  • If your licence expires, you will need to complete a full application for a new licence – a much longer and more complex process than renewing your current licence.
  • You may need to provide new information or documentation as part of the renewal process – some of these steps may take time.

How to renew

Nominated officers need to submit the renewal application, along with the relevant fee. Providers can confirm who their nominated officer is using the Labour Hire Licence Register.

LHA sends out regular reminders to providers regarding their upcoming licence expiry via email and the LHLO portal.

The notifications appear under ‘Notifications and alerts’ on the right-hand column of the LHLO portal dashboard.

Read more about renewing a labour hire licence on the LHA website.

Hosts: Ensure your labour hire provider is licensed

It is crucial that host businesses 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:

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

Check your existing providers

Hosts should not rely on paper documentation to check the validity of a licence – it is relatively simple for an unscrupulous provider to ‘doctor’ paper certificates.

Always use the tools on the LHA website to ensure providers have a valid licence:

Before engaging a new provider

There are several steps hosts should consider before engaging providers:

  • Make sure you have a written contract with your provider that properly identifies who they are and includes an obligation to let you know of any changes to who runs the business, their licence status or any problems they have with complying with the law.
  • Check that the ABN they provide is valid by using ABN Lookup.
  • Check the identification of the person you are dealing with – and then check the licence register to confirm they are listed as the nominated officer for the licence.

Another red flag to watch out for – non-compliant providers often change their name, ABN or bank details. If you are concerned, contact the LHA Enquiries team on 1300 545 200.