Better Crop Management Pty Ltd, its director Rodney Parker and another man, Joseph Zappia, have collectively been fined almost a quarter of a million dollars for breaching the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017. Better Crop was fined $120,000 for using an unlicensed labour hire provider to supply pickers to harvest onion crops in 2019; Parker was also convicted as a party to that offence and fined $75,000, while Zappia was fined $50,000 for providing labour hire workers without a licence. The court action followed a raid on a Harrisville property by Queensland’s Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit, which had been tipped off about farm workers being mistreated.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) supported this joint enforcement activity with Queensland’s Labour Hire Licensing Unity. Following the operational activity, the ABF issued two Employer Sanction Infringement Notices under the Migration Act 1958 to two entities for referring and allowing illegal workers to work on the farm. Zappia did not hold a labour hire licence in Queensland and illegally provided labour to Better Crop by fraudulently using the licence of another provider.

Magistrate Leanne Scoines noted that the defendants openly flouted the law, which was intended to protect vulnerable workers. They also acted fraudulently and in concert, and Better Crop used labourers who were not eligible to work in Australia. The significant fines are a reminder that businesses and individuals who exploit labour hire workers risk facing the full brunt of the law. The ABF and Queensland’s Labour Hire Licensing Unit stated that they will continue to work collaboratively to deter and disrupt foreign worker exploitation in Australia.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/branex