Does a labour hire provider’s certificate cover the host business?

Not automatically. It evidences the provider’s own policy, which covers the provider’s liability. Whether the host is separately covered depends on what the contract between host and provider requires and whether the policy was extended accordingly.

Is a labour hire licence the same as insurance evidence?

No. A labour hire licence, where a state scheme requires one, is a separate regulatory check on the provider. It does not confirm current insurance, and a certificate does not confirm the licence. Both need checking independently.

If my subcontractor further subcontracts the work, whose certificate do I need?

In principle, evidence for everyone actually doing the work. In practice that depends on what your contract requires the subcontractor to obtain and pass up the chain — without that clause, nothing forces it to happen.

Certificates for labour hire and subcontracted work

In short

A labour hire provider’s certificate covers the provider’s own liability. It does not automatically extend to the host business the workers are placed with.
A subcontracted business’s certificate covers that business. Work it in turn subcontracts further down the chain may not be covered unless the certificate says so.
Where several layers of engagement exist, checking one certificate at the top of the chain tells a business almost nothing about the layers underneath.

Labour hire and subcontracting both put someone else’s workers on site, but the insurance evidence that goes with each is not interchangeable. A certificate that satisfies one relationship can leave a real gap in the other, and the difference is easy to miss when the paperwork is being processed quickly.

This page is about reading the right certificate for the actual relationship, rather than assuming any certificate from any party in the chain covers everyone in it.

Labour hire: whose policy is doing the work

A labour hire provider supplies workers to a host business, but the workers remain engaged by the provider. The provider’s liability and workers compensation cover responds to incidents involving those workers, subject to the policy wording — it does not automatically make the host an insured party.

Several states run a labour hire licensing scheme requiring providers to hold a licence, and hosts are required to engage only licensed providers. A current labour hire licence and a current certificate of currency answer different questions, and a host business collecting one should not assume it has also confirmed the other.

Example of a state labour hire licensing scheme

Subcontracting: the certificate covers that business, not the next one down

A subcontractor’s certificate evidences that subcontractor’s own policy. It says nothing about anyone that subcontractor in turn engages, unless the contract specifically requires the subcontractor to flow requirements down the chain and the head contractor actually checks that it happened.

Multi-layer subcontracting is where certificate chasing most often breaks down, because each party tends to assume the layer above or below has already checked the rest of the chain. Nobody has, unless someone was specifically made responsible for it.

How to check any single certificate properly

What to actually collect, by relationship

For a labour hire arrangement: the provider’s current certificate, and separately, confirmation the provider holds a current labour hire licence where the jurisdiction requires one. Neither substitutes for the other.

For subcontracted work: the direct subcontractor’s current certificate, plus a contractual requirement that they collect and can produce equivalent evidence for anyone they engage. Without that clause, there is no mechanism forcing the chain to check itself.

Questions

Does a labour hire provider’s certificate cover the host business?: Not automatically. It evidences the provider’s own policy, which covers the provider’s liability. Whether the host is separately covered depends on what the contract between host and provider requires and whether the policy was extended accordingly.
Is a labour hire licence the same as insurance evidence?: No. A labour hire licence, where a state scheme requires one, is a separate regulatory check on the provider. It does not confirm current insurance, and a certificate does not confirm the licence. Both need checking independently.
If my subcontractor further subcontracts the work, whose certificate do I need?: In principle, evidence for everyone actually doing the work. In practice that depends on what your contract requires the subcontractor to obtain and pass up the chain — without that clause, nothing forces it to happen.

Sources

Labour Hire Authority (Victoria) — Victoria’s labour hire licensing regulator — an example of a state scheme requiring labour hire providers to be licensed and hosts to engage only licensed providers.
business.gov.au — engaging contractors — Australian Government guidance on engaging contractors, the employee/contractor distinction, and contractor obligations including insurance.