Businesses across Victoria’s supply chains, including cleaning and facilities management providers, face tighter labour hire licensing obligations as the last amendments under the state’s 2025 licensing reforms take effect this month.
Given the scale of subcontracting that already runs through commercial cleaning and facilities services, the Labour Hire Authority (LHA) has confirmed the final amendments arising from the Labour Hire Legislation Amendment (Licensing) Bill 2025 will take effect from October 2026, closing out reforms passed in December last year.
From 1 October, the general definition of labour hire shifts to focus squarely on whether an arrangement carries the character of labour supply. Within supply chains, any arrangement of this kind will require the provider to hold a licence, a change that extends explicitly to bare intermediary companies, which do not directly employ workers, but on-supply staff engaged by other businesses. The LHA has said complex supply chains carry an inherent risk of non-compliance, since arrangements are not always transparent to the host business using the workers or to regulators, and the amendment is intended to sharpen accountability and reduce the risk of worker exploitation.
Construction activities brought into scope from late October
Subject to an ongoing regulatory consultation coordinated by Industrial Relations Victoria, the definition of labour hire is proposed to broaden from 29 October to capture additional construction activities. Companies would need a labour hire licence to supply traffic management, concreting, crane operating or site security workers on Victorian Government-funded construction projects valued above $50 million, with hosts required to engage only licensed providers.
Once a brief transitional period ends, non-compliant companies and the businesses that engage them face penalties exceeding $660,000 per breach for a company and $160,000 per breach for an individual. Feedback on the proposed changes can be directed to Industrial Relations Victoria through the Engage Victoria consultation website.
The amendments follow earlier changes introduced during 2026, when nominated officers and other relevant persons within labour hire companies became subject to a more rigorous fit and proper person test, and the LHA gained broader scope to weigh compliance history when assessing licence applications. Labour hire businesses must also now declare their financial viability at the point of application or renewal, with the LHA required to be satisfied that the declaration holds true before a licence is granted or renewed.
Further detail on the reforms is available through the LHA’s Labour Hire Law Changes 2026 page.
