Labour Hire Licensing Queensland has fined three companies for operating labour hire services without licences.

In the first two instances, North Farming Pty. Ltd. and Ranjit Singh as trustee for the Farming First Trust were fined AUD 300,000 (USD 192,504) and AUD 60,000 (USD 38,500) respectively after being convicted in the Mareeba and Atherton Magistrates Court. The decisions were made on 31 July and 1 August with the results announced by Labour Hire Licensing Queensland on 10 October.

“The prosecutions showed neither North Farming nor Ranjit Singh held a licence when they supplied fruit-pickers and labourers to fruit farms in North Queensland,” according to Labour Hire Licensing Queensland. “Further, they provided labour hire services without having a workers’ compensation policy in place.”

In the third instance, Agile Group (Global) Pty. Ltd. and its chief operating officer were prosecuted for supplying security guards with being licensed to do so, according to Labour Hire Licensing Queensland. That matter was heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 17 August and announced by Labour Hire Licensing Queensland on 10 October.

The chief operating officer was fined AUD 50,000 (USD 32,084), while the company was fined AUD 150,000 (USD 96,252).

Labour Hire Licensing Queensland noted Agile Group (Global) was warned about the need for a license but provided labour to venues throughout Queensland for more than six months without a license.

“While considering early guilty pleas, the magistrate noted the offending was deliberate and continued over a long period, with significant financial benefit to the company and complete disregard of the law,” the agency stated.

SIA is attempting to reach out to North Farming and Agile Group (Global) for their responses. Contact information for Ranjit Singh could not be found.

Labour Hire Licensing Queensland noted that there have been 23 successful prosecutions for unlawful labour hire licence-related practices since the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 took effect. Penalties imposed total nearly AUD 1.7 million (USD 1.1 million).