Australia’s Labour Hire Authority (LHA) launched legal action against a horticulture provider in the state of Victoria, alleging it subcontracted to unlicensed labour hire providers to provide workers to orchards.

The Authority alleges that Honey Bunny Global Pty Ltd engaged seven unlicensed labour hire providers, and that its director, Surawadee Tanchote, was knowingly concerned in, or a party to the contravention.

Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner, Steve Dargavel said, “Victorian businesses need to be aware that the same significant penalties apply for engaging another company to provide unlicensed labour hire services as for providing those services yourself. Ensuring all Victorian labour hire companies are licensed is an essential way of protecting workers and improving the fairness and integrity of the industry.”

The alleged contravention carries maximum penalties of over AUD 590,000 (USD 394,592) for a company and AUD 145,000 (USD 96,976) for an individual, the highest available monetary penalties for companies and individuals under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic).

Labour hire providers who act as intermediaries and on-supply workers from other labour hire businesses must ensure they only enter these arrangements with other licensed providers, as well as ensuring they have a licence to provide labour hire services themselves, the Authority added.