If you run a manufacturing or warehousing operation in Brisbane, the labour hire provider standing on your floor needs to hold a current Queensland licence. Not "they're working on it". Not "the application's in". A current, valid licence. The penalties for getting this wrong land on the host business too, not just the provider, and that's the bit a lot of operations managers don't hear about until it's too late.
This is a practical guide for the people who actually have to make the call — production managers, plant managers, warehouse leads, and ops managers running shifts across Brisbane manufacturing and warehousing sites. No legal jargon. Just what the rules cover, how to check, and the questions you should ask before anyone signs anything.
The short version
Queensland was the first state in Australia to bring in labour hire licensing. The Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 means any business supplying workers on a labour hire basis in QLD has to hold a licence issued by the Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit. That includes outfits supplying labourers, operators, tradies, and admin support across civil, construction, manufacturing and warehousing.
If you engage an unlicensed provider — even by accident — you can be hit with significant penalties. Workers can be removed from your site. Production stops. That's the situation the licensing scheme is built to prevent, and it's the reason every serious provider in QLD has their licence number front and centre.
What changed for 2026
The core licensing rules haven't shifted dramatically, but the enforcement side has tightened. The Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit has been doing more site-level audits in manufacturing and warehousing through 2025 and into 2026, focused on:
- Provider licence currency — not just whether a licence exists, but whether it's current, in good standing, and not subject to conditions
- Worker entitlements — pay rates, super, leave, and proper classification under the relevant award (more on this below)
- Health and safety records — what induction the provider actually delivers, and what they keep on file
- Sham contracting indicators — workers labelled as contractors who are doing what looks like an employee's job
For manufacturing managers, the practical effect is that the days of taking a provider's word for it are over. If an auditor turns up, you need to be able to show you checked.
How to check a provider's licence (in 60 seconds)
The Queensland Government runs a free public register of licensed labour hire providers. You can search by business name or licence number. Before any provider puts a worker on your site, do this:
- Ask the provider for their QLD labour hire licence number. A legitimate provider will have it on their email signature, their quote, and their workers' paperwork
- Search that number on the public register
- Check the licence status is "current", the legal entity name matches what's on your contract, and there are no conditions you haven't been told about
- Save a screenshot or PDF of the result and date-stamp it. That's your audit trail
If a provider hesitates to give you their licence number, that's the answer. Move on.
The questions worth asking before you sign
A current licence is the floor, not the ceiling. Plenty of providers hold a licence and still send you the wrong worker, late, with the wrong tickets. Before you sign, ask:
- How do you check workers before they arrive? Face-to-face screening, ticket and licence checks, induction confirmation. If the answer is vague, the provider is vague
- What classification will my workers be paid at? Manufacturing Award, Storage Services Award, Building & Construction General On-Site Award — the right classification matters for compliance and for what ends up on your invoice
- What happens when someone doesn't turn up? Reliable providers have a replacement plan. Unreliable ones leave you a worker short and make it your problem
- What inductions and safety briefings do you run before workers reach site? You don't want the first time a worker hears about your PPE requirements to be at your gate
- Can you cover admin support, not just the floor? A lot of manufacturing operations need temp admin, scheduling, and stores cover alongside the operators and tradies. Providers who can do both save you running two arrangements
Penalties for getting it wrong
The Queensland scheme has serious teeth. Operating as an unlicensed provider, or using one as a host, attracts substantial penalty units for both individuals and corporations. The exact figures are set by the regulator and revised periodically, so check the current penalty unit value, but the order of magnitude is hundreds of thousands of dollars for corporate offences.
Beyond the financial side, the practical impact is worse. Production stops while workers are removed and replacements organised. Your client list and audit history get a black mark. And if a worker is hurt on your site while engaged through an unlicensed provider, the liability picture gets very messy very quickly.
What good labour hire looks like in Brisbane manufacturing
When the licensing side is sorted, what separates a labour hire provider that works for you from one that doesn't comes down to a few practical things:
- Workers are checked — tickets, licences, inductions — before they arrive, not after they walk in your gate
- Face-to-face screening, not just a phone call and a CV
- Coverage across the roles you actually need: labourers, operators, tradies, and admin support
- Experience across civil, construction, manufacturing and warehousing — so they understand the difference between a building site and a production line
- A real plan when something goes wrong, not just an apology
That's what reliable looks like. It's what we built EIR around, and it's why we're trusted across QLD manufacturing and warehousing sites in Brisbane and beyond. Over two decades supplying labour into Australian operations teaches you which corners can't be cut, and licensing is one of them.
A quick due-diligence checklist for your next provider conversation
Print this. Stick it on your office wall. Use it.
- QLD labour hire licence number provided?
- Licence verified on the public register and screenshot saved?
- Legal entity on the licence matches the entity on the contract?
- Worker classification and award confirmed in writing?
- Replacement plan documented for no-shows and incidents?
- Pre-arrival induction and ticket-check process confirmed?
- Provider can cover the full mix you need — floor roles plus admin support?
Get those answered, in writing, before anyone is on your floor. That's how you keep work moving without surprises.
One more thing
Compliance is a foundation, not the whole job. The point of getting your provider right isn't to pass an audit — it's to keep your shifts staffed, your machines running, and your team focused on what they're actually paid to do. A provider who treats licensing like a tick-box has the same casual approach to the rest of the job. A provider who treats it seriously usually treats everything else seriously too.
At EIR we're trusted across QLD — manufacturing, warehousing, civil and construction — and we run our QLD operation to the same standard we've held for 22+ years in labour hire. Labour Hire That Works For You isn't a slogan we put on a truck, it's how we run the business.
Looking for labour hire in Brisbane manufacturing or warehousing?
See how we work on the Brisbane manufacturing labour hire page, or read our broader take on labour hire licensing across Australia.