WorkSafe ACT has marked six months since the launch of its Labour Hire Licence scheme, having issued more than 500 licences to labour hire providers since 27 May.
Announcing the milestone, Work Health and Safety Commissioner, Jacqueline Agius said the Scheme was introduced to promote responsible conduct in the labour hire industry and protect workers engaged in labour hire arrangements across all ACT industries.
Commissioner Agius said last Friday (26 November) also marked the end of the transitional period, with compliance and enforcement action commencing the following day.
“I’m pleased to see such a strong uptake in this Scheme, demonstrating that these companies are taking their work health and safety obligations seriously,” she said.
“I strongly encourage other providers to complete their applications.
“It is unacceptable that companies profit from exploiting workers.”
The Commissioner said individuals who were employed through a labour hire company were entitled to the same workplace protections as every other worker in the ACT.
“WorkSafe ACT will be taking strong compliance enforcement action to ensure providers who are not compliant are held accountable,” she said.
“Every worker deserves equal rights to a safe and healthy workplace.”
Commissioner Agius said labour hire providers that had applied for a labour hire licence before midnight on Friday could continue to provide labour hire services while their application was being processed.
She said as long as those providers were otherwise compliant with workplace laws, they would not be subject to compliance and enforcement actions until the outcome of their application was finalised.
