We recently reported on the commencement of the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (SA) (“Act”) from 1 March 2018.
A labour hire provider who is operating in South Australia unlicensed following Saturday, 1 September 2018 (“Compliance Date”) will face significant penalties which include fines and terms of imprisonment.
The ability for a labour hire provider to make an application to be granted a Labour Hire Licence (“Licence”) has been open since 1 March 2018. They must be submitted online to Consumer and Business Affairs (“CBS”) by Wednesday, 1 August 2018. CBS will then assess whether those labour hire providers are compliant prior to the Compliance Date.
Behind the scenes several industry groups have been lobbying for an exemption from the requirement to be licensed under section 11 of the Act.
On 14 March 2018 the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Dini Soulio granted exemption from the requirement to be licenced to labour hire providers that are persons licensed (by trade) pursuant to:
- Section 6 of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995;
- Section 6 of the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995; and
- Section 6 and Section 7A of the Security and Investigation Industry Act 1995 (excluding licensed security agents and licensed investigation agents subject to employee conditions).
We suspect that other industry groups will step up their campaign to be exempted from the requirement to be licensed in light of this decision by the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs.
We will keep you informed of future developments.
