Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Recruiters: insurance and scheme requirements

Placement and on-hire of staff, including labour hire into host workplaces.

Data as at

Required by law or licence

  • Licence liability condition: No licence exists for this occupation in New South Wales, so there is no licence condition to carry an insurance requirement. Any cover the business holds is driven by contracts, landlords and its own risk appetite rather than by a regulator. NSW · effective 2026-08-24 Building Commission NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Licence evidence required: None to a regulator. In practice the evidence that gets requested comes from client companies and their procurement teams, and from workers compensation obligations as an employer. NSW · effective 2026-08-24 Building Commission NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Licensing body: Nobody. New South Wales does not currently run a mandatory labour hire licensing scheme, and there is no separate recruitment or employment agent licence. This is a live point of difference between states: Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT operate labour hire licensing schemes, and NSW publishes links to those registers rather than maintaining one of its own. A labour hire business supplying workers into those states may need a licence THERE while needing none at home. NSW · effective 2026-08-24 Building Commission NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Licence liability condition: Workers compensation cover appropriate for the workforce is a key requirement. No professional indemnity condition was located. VIC · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence goes to the licensing authority at application and on renewal, and to host businesses under contract. VIC · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Labour Hire Authority, under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic). A licence is usually required where a provider supplies workers to perform work in and as part of a host's business in Victoria. THE CROSS-BORDER POINT: labour hire licensing is one of the most fragmented regimes in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT run schemes; New South Wales and Western Australia do not. A provider supplying workers across a border may need a licence THERE while needing none at home, and the obligation follows where the work is performed. VIC · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No professional indemnity condition is stated. The published licensing criteria turn on being a fit and proper person, financial viability, and compliance with safety and workers compensation law — insurance features as something a provider must have in order, rather than as a named licence condition. QLD · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence goes to the licensing authority at application and on renewal, and to host businesses under contract. QLD · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: Labour Hire Licensing Queensland, within the Office of Industrial Relations, under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (Qld). All labour hire providers operating in Queensland need to be licensed. THE CROSS-BORDER POINT: labour hire licensing is one of the most fragmented regimes in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT run schemes; New South Wales and Western Australia do not. A provider supplying workers across a border may need a licence THERE while needing none at home, and the obligation follows where the work is performed. QLD · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No labour hire licence exists to carry an insurance condition. WA · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence goes to the licensing authority at application and on renewal, and to host businesses under contract. WA · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: Nobody — Western Australia does not currently have a dedicated labour hire licensing scheme. Depending on the activities, an employment agent's licence under the Employment Agents Act 1976 (WA) may apply instead, which is a different and older regime. THE CROSS-BORDER POINT: labour hire licensing is one of the most fragmented regimes in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT run schemes; New South Wales and Western Australia do not. A provider supplying workers across a border may need a licence THERE while needing none at home, and the obligation follows where the work is performed. WA · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition was located in the published requirements. The stated criteria are about responsible persons: generally at least two people responsible for day-to-day management, each fit and proper, with police certificates and relevant qualifications. SA · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence goes to the licensing authority at application and on renewal, and to host businesses under contract. SA · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: Consumer and Business Services, under South Australia's labour hire licensing scheme — and note the date: from 29 January 2026 all labour hire firms and workers are covered by the same laws and regulations. Guidance written before then may describe a narrower scheme. THE CROSS-BORDER POINT: labour hire licensing is one of the most fragmented regimes in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT run schemes; New South Wales and Western Australia do not. A provider supplying workers across a border may need a licence THERE while needing none at home, and the obligation follows where the work is performed. SA · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Not applicable. With no labour hire licence in Tasmania there is no licence for an insurance condition to attach to. A recruiter who employs the workers it places still carries the workers compensation obligations that come with being an employer. TAS · effective 2026-08-25 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: Not applicable. No labour hire licence exists in Tasmania. TAS · effective 2026-08-25 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: Tasmania has no labour hire licensing scheme. The official index of all Tasmanian Acts and statutory rules in force returns zero occurrences of labour hire, labour-hire, employment agent and recruit. That is a title-level negative across the complete corpus of Tasmanian primary and subordinate legislation, and for a scheme of this kind — every jurisdiction that has one enacted a dedicated, distinctly titled Act — it is close to conclusive. TAS · effective 2026-08-25 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition was confirmed from a regulator source. Treat as not established rather than absent. ACT · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence goes to the licensing authority at application and on renewal, and to host businesses under contract. ACT · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: WorkSafe ACT, under the territory's labour hire licensing scheme. Providers must be licensed and comply with reporting, record-keeping and worker protection obligations. THE CROSS-BORDER POINT: labour hire licensing is one of the most fragmented regimes in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT run schemes; New South Wales and Western Australia do not. A provider supplying workers across a border may need a licence THERE while needing none at home, and the obligation follows where the work is performed. ACT · effective 2026-08-24 State labour hire licensing authorities · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Not applicable. With no labour hire licence in the Territory there is no licence for an insurance condition to attach to. A recruiter who employs the workers it places still carries the workers compensation obligations that come with being an employer. NT · effective 2026-08-24 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: Not applicable. No labour hire licence exists in the Northern Territory. NT · effective 2026-08-24 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: The Northern Territory has no labour hire licensing scheme. No labour hire licensing statute appears in the Administrative Arrangements Order 2026, which lists every Act administered in the Territory. That puts the NT outside the group of jurisdictions that license labour hire providers. NT · effective 2026-08-24 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25

Cover commonly held

Ordered by how central each cover is to this occupation. This is what businesses in the trade commonly hold and what contracts commonly ask for — it is not a statement that any of it is legally required, and it is not a recommendation.

  • Workers compensation insurance — Statutory cover for injury to workers, arranged through each state or territory scheme rather than on the open market.
  • Public liability insurance — Cover for legal liability to third parties for personal injury or property damage arising from business activities.
  • Employment practices liability — Cover for claims by employees over matters such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and bullying allegations.
  • Professional indemnity insurance — Cover for legal liability arising from professional advice or services, written on a claims-made basis.
  • Management liability insurance — Cover for company and director exposures such as employment practices, statutory liability and defence costs.
  • Business pack insurance — A packaged policy combining property, liability and interruption sections for small business.

Statutory schemes that can apply

Checking what you hold

The document a principal, a landlord or a licensing team will ask for is a certificate of currency. The checker reads one and lists what it does and does not show.

Sources