Labour hire licensing checker

Choose the state where workers are supplied and whether you supply or use labour hire. You get whether a licence is needed, what a host must check, the 2026–27 maximum penalties and the public register.

Figures checked 5 November 2026. Free to use, no sign-in.

Labour hire licensing

Queensland

Licence required in Queensland

Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (Qld), administered by Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit (Queensland).

What to do

You need a licence before you supply workers in Queensland (s 10 of the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (Qld)). Apply to Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit (Queensland).
Arrangements designed to avoid the licensing obligations (avoidance arrangements) are a separate contravention.

Maximum penalties

Providing without a licence (s 10, offence): individual: 1,034 penalty units ($178,571.80) or 3 years’ imprisonment
Body corporate: 3,000 penalty units ($518,100)

Check a provider

Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit (Queensland): public register of licensed providers

Each scheme has exclusions and exemptions, for example for some in-house arrangements. Check with the regulator if one may apply.
Licensing sits on top of the Fair Work Act, WHS law and workers compensation, which apply to labour hire workers everywhere.

General information, not legal advice.

How this works

Each licensing Act makes it unlawful to provide labour hire services without a licence and to enter an arrangement with an unlicensed provider. Penalties are set in penalty units in Queensland ($172.70 from 1 July 2026), Victoria ($209.10 for 2026–27) and the ACT ($160 for an individual and $810 for a corporation), and in fixed dollars in South Australia.

In Victoria these are civil penalty provisions rather than offences, and in the ACT the host provision is a civil penalty. The tool shows the penalty type with each figure.

Legal basis

Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Tell us.

Questions

Which states require a labour hire licence?

Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT. New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have no labour hire licensing law as at 5 November 2026, although the NSW government has announced a bill.

Can a host business be penalised for using an unlicensed provider?

Yes, in all four schemes. In Queensland and South Australia it is an offence, and in Victoria and the ACT it is a civil penalty. Checking the public register before you enter the arrangement, and keeping a record, is the practical protection.

Did South Australia’s scheme change in 2026?

Yes. From 29 January 2026 it covers labour hire in all industries, not only the industries previously prescribed. Providers newly covered had until 29 July 2026 to be licensed.

Does a licence in one state cover the others?

No. Each scheme is separate, so a provider supplying workers in more than one licensing state needs a licence in each.

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