Licensing obligations
Labour Hire Licensing — What You Need to Know in 2026
Labour hire licensing now applies in four Australian jurisdictions — VIC, QLD, SA, and ACT. All require directors and responsible persons to hold a current National Police Certificate, and all impose significant penalties on both providers and hosts for non-compliance.
South Australia expanded its scheme in December 2025 to cover all labour hire providers, not just high-risk sectors. If you operate across state borders, you need to treat each jurisdiction’s requirements separately.
Victoria
Up to $581,568 (corp)
Labour Hire Authority. Licences up to 3 years. Hosts prohibited from using unlicensed providers. Police check required for all directors and responsible persons.
Queensland
Up to $2,430,000 (corp)
Annual licence renewal. Highest penalties in Australia. Executive officers must be fit and proper persons with current police certificates.
Timog Australia
Expanded Dec 2025
All providers now covered — not just high-risk sectors. Six-month transition period in effect. Aligns with VIC and QLD requirements.
ACT
Penalties apply
Labour Hire Licensing Act 2020. Administered by Access Canberra. Same fit and proper person requirements as other jurisdictions.
Host liability is real. In QLD and VIC, host businesses that engage unlicensed labour hire providers face penalties of up to $500,000. Verifying your provider’s licence status and their workers’ police check currency is not optional — it’s your legal obligation.
The challenge
Why Compliance is Harder in Labour Hire
Same-day callouts
Workers get called the morning they’re needed. A 3-day turnaround for a police check means a missed shift and a failed client commitment.
Large visa workforce
Student visa holders, 482 workers, and working holiday makers — VEVO checks are mandatory and visa conditions change without warning.
Multi-host placements
Workers placed across multiple host businesses need shareable credentials — not PDFs emailed to every client site manager.
Licence audit risk
VIC and QLD regulators actively audit providers. A missing or expired police check on a director or worker can trigger licence conditions or cancellation.
Our solution
Everything Your Labour Hire Business Needs
80% of checks returned within 1–3 minutes. Workers complete the entire process on their mobile — no paperwork, no post office. Meets licence obligations for directors, responsible persons, and placed workers.
- ACIC-accredited, accepted Australia-wide
- Meets VIC, QLD, SA and ACT licence requirements
- Worker-pay or employer-pay per check
- Results stored in worker’s personal portal
- Shareable across multiple host employers
- Automated expiry alerts
Labour hire companies carry the compliance obligation for right-to-work verification — not the host employer. BusinessHub monitors your visa workforce continuously and alerts you before conditions change.
- Instant results via Department of Home Affairs
- Ongoing monitoring — not just at onboarding
- Flags visa expiry, work hour limits, condition changes
- Audit-ready records per worker profile
- Meets employer obligations under Migration Act
- Critical for student and 482 visa workforces
Workers placed in aged care, NDIS, healthcare, or education sites who have lived overseas for six months or more need an international check in addition to their Australian NCCHC. 100% online — no consulate visit required.
- 190+ countries including India, Philippines, Nepal
- Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, UK and more
- 100% online — no consulate visit required
- Results in 5–15 working days per country
- Stored alongside Australian check in BusinessHub
- Employer-pay available for bulk onboarding
BusinessHub platform
One Platform for Your Entire Placed Workforce
Real-time compliance visibility across every host site and every worker — without chasing PDFs, emails, or individual site managers.
Dashboard
Live
Real-time compliance status across all placements at a glance
Worker portal
Shareable
Workers share credentials across multiple host employers from one portal
Alerts
Automated
Notified before checks expire — not after a licence audit flags it
Billing
Flexible
Worker-pay, employer-pay, or monthly consolidated billing
Setup cost
$0
No contracts, no setup fees — pay only for checks ordered
Integration
API ready
Connect with your existing ATS or workforce management platform
Pricing
Transparent Pricing — No Surprises
| Uri ng check |
Layunin |
Turnaround |
Presyo |
| National Police Check (NCCHC) |
All workers + licence obligations |
80% within 1–3 min |
From $49 |
| VEVO Right-to-Work Check |
Visa holders — ongoing verification |
Instant |
$10 |
| International Police Check |
Workers with overseas history (6+ months) |
5–15 working days |
From $85 |
| Pagpapatunay ng Pagkakakilanlan (VOI) |
Biometric identity verification |
Same session |
Available |
Volume discounts available for organisations processing 50+ checks per month. Call 1300 609 970 for enterprise pricing.
Common questions
Questions from Labour Hire Compliance Teams
Do all workers we place need a police check, or just directors?
For labour hire licensing purposes, directors and responsible persons must hold a current National Police Certificate. For workers placed in regulated host environments — aged care, NDIS, childcare, education, government sites — the placed worker also needs a police check as a condition of that host’s own compliance obligations. Many labour hire providers require checks for all placed workers regardless of site, as a standard risk management policy. BusinessHub lets you manage both requirements from one platform.
Can a worker’s police check be shared across multiple host employers?
Yes. Each worker has a personal Worker Checks CheckHub portal where their certificate is stored. They can electronically share it with any host employer directly from their portal — no emailing PDFs, no duplicate applications. The certificate is a point-in-time document, so the same check can be shared with multiple hosts during its valid period.
We operate across VIC, QLD and SA — do we need to meet requirements in each state?
Yes. Each jurisdiction’s labour hire licensing scheme operates independently. If you supply workers in multiple states, you need to hold a licence and meet compliance requirements — including police checks — in each jurisdiction where you operate. Worker Checks NCCHC is ACIC-accredited and accepted across all states and territories, so one check type covers all jurisdictions.
How do we handle workers called up same-day?
80% of Worker Checks NCCHCs are returned within 1–3 minutes of submission. Workers complete the entire application on their mobile phone, including biometric identity verification. For a same-day callout, a worker can apply and receive their result in the time it takes to travel to site. BusinessHub shows you in real time which workers in your pool are cleared and ready to deploy.
What do we need for workers who have lived overseas?
Workers who have lived overseas for six months or more need an international criminal history check in addition to their Australian NCCHC when placed in regulated host environments. Worker Checks covers 190+ countries including the most common origin countries in Australia’s labour hire workforce — India, Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the UK — all 100% online with no consulate visit required.
How often do police checks need to be renewed?
There is no single national standard. VIC labour hire licence renewals typically require checks issued within the last 3 years. Many labour hire providers set a 2-year internal renewal policy as a conservative standard. BusinessHub tracks every worker’s check date and sends automated renewal alerts so your compliance dashboard stays current without manual tracking.
Related services
Also Relevant for Labour Hire
Ready to Meet Your Licence Obligations?
Free BusinessHub account. No contracts. No setup fees. Police checks returned in minutes.
Worker Checks Pty Ltd is an Accredited Body with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), authorised to access the National Police Checking Service. VEVO checks are conducted via the Department of Home Affairs Visa Entitlement Verification Online system. International police checks are suitable for employment and background screening purposes only — not suitable for visa or immigration applications. Information on labour hire licensing obligations is general in nature — consult the relevant state authority or legal adviser for advice specific to your situation.
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