Welcome to the August 2023 edition of LHA News

LHA has commenced new legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria against a labour hire provider in the horticulture industry, and its directors.

The action alleges that the company failed to notify LHA of changes in its directors, and that a director was not a fit and proper person. An LHA prosecution for similar contraventions resulted in the largest combined fine for breaches of labour hire law in Australian history in December 2022.

This case is the latest in a series of LHA actions in horticulture, as part of our focus on key industries including commercial cleaning, security, and meat and poultry processing.

It is an important reminder of the requirement to notify LHA promptly of any changes within your business. Ensuring that we have the details of anyone involved with running a labour hire company, and that they are fit and proper, is an important way we monitor and improve industry integrity.

In this edition, we also cover:

• important changes to the Fair Work Act 2009, and for migrant and PALM scheme workers
• how LHA’s work with the commercial cleaning industry has led to improved compliance.

I hope you find this edition valuable.

Steve Dargavel 
Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner 

In this edition:

• Supreme Court action against provider for alleged contraventions concerning director changes
• Getting off on the right foot – supporting new providers in commercial cleaning
• Changes to the Fair Work Act come into effect through 2023 and early 2024
• Changes to PALM scheme and new protections for migrant workers
• Objecting to a licence application
• Targeted LHA engagement focus in July

Licensing overview: July 2023

• 122 licence applications submitted
• 144 licences granted
• 100 licence renewals granted
• 41 licences refused or cancelled