The Victorian Chamber does not support the introduction of a new licensing scheme as it will impose significant costs on the majority of compliant firms operating in the sector.

The scheme proposed in the Bill goes significantly further than what was recommended by the 2016 independent Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work as it imposes licensing requirements on all labour hire firms, not just those in meat, horticulture and cleaning industries.

Noting that many important details of how the proposed licensing scheme will operate will only become available following the development of regulations, the Victorian Chamber has a number of concerns with the proposed scheme as detailed in the Bill:

• Fees –while the final fees will be set through regulation, following a regulatory impact statement process, the Victorian Chamber is concerned at the impact that this additional cost will have on labour hire businesses and the users of labour hire services. The Bill envisages a significant role for a new labour hire licensing authority, including a commissioner and inspectorate which risks making licence fees unsustainably high if they are set to fully recover costs.
• Red tape –the scheme proposed in the Bill appears overly burdensome, requiring extensive information to be provided by applicants on application, annually during the licence period and at the request of the authority.
• Licence period –the proposed three-year licence period is too short, unnecessarily increasing the regulatory burden associated with the scheme.

Victorian Chamber members operating in the labour hire sector have highlighted the significant effort and resources they already devote to ensuring compliance with extensive legal requirements and have expressed concern at the financial and administrative burden of having to comply with an additional licensing scheme.

The Victorian Chamber will be closely examining the legislation for the scheme and will seek to ensure its impact is minimised on the majority of reputable and compliant labour hire operators and users of labour hire services.

If you have further enquiries about the Bill or any concerns about how it might affect your business, please contact Hugh Horsfall from the Policy and Advocacy Team on (03) 8662 5106 or at HHorsfall@victorianchamber.com.au.