Understanding the Labour Hire Supply Chain

The grower owns or manages the farm, orchard, or agricultural operation. They need workers to pick fruit, prune vines, pack produce, or operate machinery. They engage a labour hire company to supply those workers. The grower directs the day-to-day work on site.

The labour hire company recruits, employs, and supplies workers to the grower. They are the legal employer — responsible for pay, entitlements, contracts, and employment conditions. They pay the workers and invoice the grower.

The worker is employed by the labour hire company but performs their daily work on the grower's property, under the grower's direction. They may work on piece rates or hourly rates depending on the role and agreement.

Some supply chains have multiple layers — a grower contracts a management company, who contracts a labour hire provider, who may subcontract to another. Each layer adds complexity and reduces visibility, which regulators identify as high-risk for non-compliance.

In Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the ACT, labour hire providers must hold a valid licence before supplying workers. Penalties for operating without one can exceed $650,000 for a corporation.

Workers must receive minimum entitlements under the relevant award or enterprise agreement. This includes correct hourly rates, overtime, penalty rates, leave entitlements, and superannuation.

Under the Horticulture Award, piece rates must be set so that a competent worker at average productivity earns at least 15% above the minimum hourly rate. The calculation methodology must be documented.

Since April 2022, employers must record hours worked by all pieceworkers and the piece rates applied. Payslips must be issued. Failure to keep records is one of the most common compliance breaches.

Every worker must have a clear written employment agreement that establishes terms, conditions, pay rates, and the nature of the employment relationship.

Labour hire companies are responsible for general WHS management, initial training, induction, and ensuring their workers are safe. They must cooperate with the host employer on site-specific safety matters.

Labour hire licence required to supply workers for horticulture-specific work including planting, picking, packing, sorting, labelling, grading, thinning, pruning, and spraying. Managed by the Labour Hire Licensing Authority.

Industry-wide licensing scheme. All labour hire providers must hold a licence and be registered on the public register before supplying workers in any industry.

Originally limited to prescribed industries (including horticulture). The 2025 Amendment Act broadened the scheme — nearly all providers supplying workers for a fee must now hold a valid licence.

Industry-wide labour hire licensing scheme covering all sectors.

No dedicated labour hire licensing scheme currently. Many operators require an Employment Agent's Licence under the Employment Agents Act 1976.

Host employers must verify their labour hire provider's licence status on the relevant state register before engaging them. Using an unlicensed provider in a regulated state exposes both parties to significant penalties.

Workers not receiving payslips, or payslips that don't accurately reflect hours worked, rates applied, and deductions made.

Piece rates that don't meet the 15% above minimum hourly rate requirement, or rates set without documented methodology showing how the rate was calculated.

Since April 2022, employers must record hours worked by all pieceworkers. Many businesses still don't keep proper timesheets for piece rate workers.

Workers unable to identify their actual employer or lacking written contracts that establish terms, conditions, and pay rates.

Labour hire providers operating in regulated states without holding a valid licence. This also exposes the grower who engaged them.

Unreasonable deductions for accommodation, transport, laundry, kitchen use, or other charges that reduce workers' effective pay below minimum entitlements.

Growers failing to check their labour hire provider's licence, failing to verify compliance practices, and having no written agreements in place.

Labour hire employees can now have regulated pay rate orders applied, meaning they must be paid at least the same rate as the host employer's directly-employed workers doing the same work.

Intentional wage theft is now a criminal offence under the Fair Work Act. A small business code of conduct provides a pathway to avoid prosecution for those who cooperate, but deliberate underpayment now carries criminal penalties.

A casual employee is now defined based on the practical reality and true nature of the relationship, not just the contract. If a worker has regular, ongoing hours, they may not legally be a casual — regardless of what the contract says.

Eligible employees have the right to not monitor, read, or respond to contact from an employer outside their ordinary hours of work, unless refusal is unreasonable.

South Australia has broadened its labour hire licensing scheme. Nearly all providers supplying workers for a fee must now hold a valid licence — not just those in prescribed industries.