New regulations under the labour hire licencing scheme means that all Victorian wineries and grape growers are now required to only hire workers from licenced labour hire providers. The failure of winemakers and grapegrowers to comply with the new regulations could result in a $500,000 penalty.

Minister for Industrial Relations the Hon. Tim Pallas has announced the Victorian Labour Hire Authority (LHA) will deliver over 20 information sessions in Melbourne and in key regional areas including Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Geelong from mid-March to late April to ensure winemakers and grape growers have the information required to comply with the new labour hire licencing scheme.

The information sessions will explain how the new labour hire licencing scheme will affect winemakers and grape growers that use labour hire providers, with the Labour Hire Authority to also provide key compliance dates and details on how labour hire hosts can prepare for the launch of the labour hire licencing scheme, followed by a Q&A segment for additional queries.

Labour hire hosts have two main regulations under the labour hire licencing scheme, which are to:

• Verify whether a labour hire provider is licenced by checking the Register of Licenced Labour Hire Providers, and
• Only use licenced labour hire providers to organise the services of labour hire workers.
The scheme is designed to provide an additional layer of scrutiny to licenced labour hire operators and businesses that use labour hire workers, after worker exploitation was uncovered during the Victorian Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Secure Work.

For more information on the labour hire licencing scheme information sessions, and to register for a session, please click here.