The Fines for Using an Unlicensed Cleaner in Victoria, and Why They Land on You
Most people assume that if a cleaning company is operating illegally, the cleaning company gets fined. In Victoria that is only half the story. Under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018, the business that uses an unlicensed provider is breaking the law too, and the maximum fines are the same size.
This is a general guide, not legal advice. Penalty amounts are indexed, so check the Labour Hire Authority's website for the current figures.
The headline numbers
The Labour Hire Authority (LHA) puts the maximum penalties at:
| Who | Offence | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| A cleaning company | Providing labour hire without a licence | More than $660,000 |
| An individual running one | Providing labour hire without a licence | More than $160,000 |
| The business using the cleaners (host) | Engaging an unlicensed provider | More than $660,000 for a company, $160,000 for an individual |
| Anyone | Advertising labour hire services without a licence | Penalties apply |
The amounts are set in penalty units and rise each financial year, which is why you will see slightly different figures in older articles.
"Host" means you
The Act calls the business where the workers do their work the host. If you engage a cleaning company to clean your office, clinic, gym, school or shop, you are the host. Your duty is simple to state: only use a licensed provider.
That duty covers every link in the chain. Since 1 October 2026, the law has made clear that a licence is needed to supply labour at any point in a supply chain. If your licensed cleaner passes your site to an unlicensed subcontractor, the arrangement your business relies on is no longer licensed. That is why hosts should ask who actually does the work. We explain the chain in the 1 October subcontracting rule.
Hosts do get prosecuted
The LHA does not only pursue providers. In 2024, after legal action by the LHA, a company and its director in the Cobram area were penalised $264,352 for engaging unlicensed labour hire providers. That case was not in cleaning, but the host duty is the same in every industry the Act covers, and the LHA has named commercial cleaning as one of its key industries.
The costs that are not fines
A fine is the worst case. More likely, and still expensive, are these:
- An investigation on your premises. LHA inspectors can investigate hosts, require documents, enter and search premises, and seize material where they have reasonable grounds.
- Losing your cleaner overnight. If a provider is found to be unlicensed, or its licence is cancelled, it cannot keep supplying workers. The LHA itself warns hosts about this disruption. A clinic or childcare centre cannot simply skip a week of cleaning.
- Liability for someone else's underpayment. The LHA notes that hosts can be liable for a provider's breaches of workplace and migration law. Workers being paid cash, below the award, or without super is the pattern the licensing scheme exists to stop.
- Workplace safety duties you already have. Under health and safety law, a business that hosts a labour hire worker owes that worker duties alongside the provider. Unlicensed operators are rarely the ones keeping safety data sheets and training records in order.
- Your own reputation. The LHA can now publish the names of providers whose licences are cancelled and the reasons. Your name will not be on the notice, but your clients may still see whose staff were cleaning your site.
What keeps you out of trouble
The Act does not ask hosts to audit a provider's payroll. It asks you to use a licensed one, and the steps that show you did are straightforward:
- Search the LHA's public register before you sign. Do not rely on a certificate or a PDF the provider sends you, because the LHA warns these can be fake or out of date.
- Confirm the person you are dealing with actually belongs to the licensed business.
- Subscribe to "Follow My Providers" on the register so you are told if the licence status changes.
- Write it into the contract. That means a warranty that the provider and any subcontractor are licensed, notice of any change, and no subcontracting without your written approval.
- Keep a dated record of each check: a screenshot of the register entry is enough.
The step-by-step version is in our guide on how to check a cleaner's labour hire licence.
A warning sign worth knowing
A quote that is well under everyone else's is often the first sign. A cleaning price is mostly labour. When one quote is far below the others, the gap usually comes from wages, super, insurance or the licence. Our post on what office cleaning in Melbourne actually costs shows what a fair price is made of.
Where we stand
Star Shining Facility Solutions holds a Victorian labour hire licence for commercial cleaning, listed on the LHA's public register, and we do not subcontract our Victorian sites to other cleaning companies. We will give you our licence details with every proposal and confirm them at each renewal. See office cleaning Melbourne or medical cleaning Melbourne, or ask for a walkthrough.