Labour Hire Licensing in Australia: A State-by-State Guide

If your business supplies its own workers to other businesses, the rules you operate under are tightening, and they differ depending on which state the work happens in. South Australia widened its scheme to cover every industry in early 2026, a national framework is being consulted on, and the businesses that hire your workers can now be penalised for using an unlicensed provider. This guide lays out, in plain English, who needs a labour hire licence in Australia, where each state stands in 2026, and what to do about it.

It is written for two readers: operators who supply workers (cleaning, construction, security, care, and similar), and the host businesses that engage them and need to check they are dealing with a licensed provider.

This is general information, not legal advice. Requirements, fees, and dates change, so confirm the current detail with the relevant state authority before you act.

What labour hire is, and who needs a licence

In broad terms, you are providing labour hire when you supply your workers to another business (the host) for a fee, to do work as part of that host's business or undertaking, while you remain the one who engages and pays them. A cleaning company that sends its cleaners into a client's offices, a firm that supplies labourers to a builder, an agency that places guards at a venue: these are typical labour hire arrangements.

One principle matters more than any other, and it catches people out: the obligation follows where the work is performed, not where your business is based. A provider headquartered in Sydney that sends a worker to a Melbourne site needs to deal with Victoria's rules. If your workers cross state lines, even occasionally, you may trigger obligations in more than one state at once.

Not every arrangement is labour hire. The common exemptions are genuine subcontracting (you are delivering a defined service or result, not simply supplying workers under the host's direction), your own in-house employees working in your business, and pure recruitment (you introduce a candidate the host then employs directly). The lines can be subtle, and several states have widened their definitions, so if you are unsure which side you sit on, it is worth getting advice before you assume you are exempt.

The duty runs both ways

It is no longer only the provider who carries risk. Under the state schemes, a host business that engages an unlicensed labour hire provider, without a reasonable excuse, can be penalised too. That is why clients are increasingly asking their providers to show a current licence and proof that the workers turning up are properly screened and ticketed. For operators, compliance has quietly become a sales requirement, not just a legal one. For hosts, checking a provider's licence is now part of sensible due diligence.

The state-by-state picture in 2026

Four jurisdictions run a licensing scheme. Four do not, though national workplace and safety laws still apply everywhere.

Have a licensing scheme

Queensland. Queensland's scheme is the oldest, established under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 and operating since April 2018. It covers all industries and is administered by Labour Hire Licensing Queensland within the Office of Industrial Relations. Fees are tiered by provider turnover and indexed each year.

Victoria. Victoria's scheme, established under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 and operating since 2019, also covers all industries and is run by the Labour Hire Authority. A Victorian point to note: licences are tied to industry classifications, so a licence granted for one sector does not automatically authorise you in another. Hosts are expected to verify the scope of a provider's licence, not just that one exists. The Victorian register is publicly searchable.

South Australia. South Australia's scheme, under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017, has had the most movement, and it is the one to watch this year (see the next section). It is administered by Consumer and Business Services.

Australian Capital Territory. The ACT runs a licensing scheme covering all industries, established under its Labour Hire Licensing Act 2020. As with the others, the obligation turns on work performed in the territory.

No state licensing scheme (as at mid-2026)

New South Wales has no state labour hire licensing scheme. Reform has been raised and debated, but nothing has been legislated. Providers still have to meet Fair Work obligations, hold workers compensation, and comply with work health and safety law. And if a NSW-based provider supplies workers into Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, or the ACT, the destination state's licensing rules apply.

Western Australia likewise has no state scheme. Federal and WA workplace and safety laws still apply.

Tasmania and the Northern Territory have no labour hire licensing scheme either.

The practical upshot: a provider operating across borders can be unlicensed at home yet still required to hold one or more interstate licences, purely because of where the work lands.

South Australia's 2026 expansion: the deadline you cannot miss

This is the timely one. South Australia originally licensed all labour hire, then narrowed its scheme to five prescribed sectors (horticulture, meat processing, seafood processing, cleaning, and trolley collection). From 29 January 2026, amendments reverted the Act close to its original form, so the scheme now covers labour hire across all industries in the state.

The key dates and rules:

• Providers newly captured by the expansion have a grace period until 29 July 2026 to apply for and obtain a licence and keep operating legally.
• Providers already operating in one of the previously prescribed sectors and already licensed must stay licensed. The grace period does not apply to them.
• Once the deadline passes, hosts are expected to verify that the providers they engage are licensed, so the verification pressure cuts in on both sides.

Consumer and Business Services recommends allowing several weeks for the application, on top of the time it takes to gather the supporting material (proof of solvency from a qualified accountant, fit-and-proper declarations for those running the business, and so on). If you supply workers in South Australia and are newly in scope, treat July as the real deadline and start now.

For more detail on the South Australian changes, see our guide to the SA labour hire deadline.

Where this is heading: a national framework

The direction of travel is clear: labour hire licensing in Australia is expanding in scope, tightening in enforcement, and moving toward national consistency. The federal government has been consulting on a national framework that would consolidate the state and territory schemes into one set of obligations, with fit-and-proper person tests, financial viability requirements, and duties on both providers and hosts. Even operators in states without a scheme today, such as New South Wales and Western Australia, should expect the reach of licensing to grow, and should be watching announcements rather than assuming the status quo holds.

What to do if you supply workers

A short, practical checklist:

1. Map where your workers actually perform work. List every state your people set foot in for a job. That, not your head office, determines your obligations.
2. Identify which licences you need, and apply early. If you operate in or send workers into Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, or the ACT, you need that state's licence. Applications take time, so do not leave them to the deadline.
3. Keep the licence current, and keep your workers' compliance in order. Licences are renewed and indexed, and your workers carry their own requirements (cards, checks, inductions) on top of the business licence.
4. Be ready to prove it to clients. Hosts are asking for licence numbers and worker compliance evidence as a condition of engagement. Having that at your fingertips, rather than scrambling, is becoming a competitive advantage.

What to do if you engage labour hire

If you are a host (a builder, a venue, a facilities manager, a cleaning client), add a licence check to your supplier onboarding. Request the provider's licence number and responsible-person details, confirm the licence covers the relevant industry and state, and keep a record. After the relevant deadlines, engaging an unlicensed provider is a risk you carry, not just the agency.

How Tendd fits in

Tendd is built for exactly this moment. It keeps your business licence and each worker's cards, checks, and inductions in one place, gates a worker's assignment to a site on whether their documents are valid, warns you before anything expires rather than after, and puts the compliance picture in the branded report your client receives. When a host asks you to prove your workers were allowed on site, the answer is already there. If staying on top of licences and worker compliance across sites is becoming a job in itself, that is the problem Tendd is designed to take off your desk.

Which Australian states require a labour hire licence?

As at mid-2026, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory require labour hire providers to hold a state licence. New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory do not have a state scheme, though national workplace and safety laws still apply.

Do I need a labour hire licence in New South Wales?

There is no NSW state licensing scheme at present. However, if you supply workers into a state that does require a licence (Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, or the ACT), you need that state's licence, because the rule follows where the work is performed.

What is the South Australia labour hire deadline?

Providers newly captured by South Australia's expanded scheme have until 29 July 2026 to obtain a licence and keep operating. Providers already required to be licensed before 29 January 2026 must remain licensed without a grace period.

Can the business that hires the workers be penalised?

Yes. Under the state schemes, a host that engages an unlicensed provider without a reasonable excuse can face penalties, which is why hosts now verify provider licences as part of onboarding.

My workers cross state lines. Which licence do I need?

You need the licence of the state where the work is performed. If your workers operate in several scheme states, you may need a licence in each of them.

Last reviewed: June 2026. Labour hire licensing is changing quickly, and this guide is general information only, not legal advice. Always confirm current requirements, fees, and deadlines with the relevant state authority.