Employment agents in South Australia: the licence and the duties

Who is an employment agent

Section 3 defines an employment agent as a person who, “for monetary or other consideration, carries on the business of” procuring workers for people who want to employ or engage others, or procuring employment for people who want to be employed or engaged. It does not include “a charitable or benevolent organisation which carries on any such activity on a non-profit basis”, or an organisation of a class the regulations exclude.

The Employment Agents Registration Regulations 2025, in operation from 31 July 2025, take out of the Act’s definitions an organisation, insofar as it runs a jointly funded Commonwealth and State group training scheme for apprentices or trainees, and a non-employee engagement paid, in a financial year, at least the Fair Work Act’s high income threshold.

Getting and keeping the licence

• Apply to the Director in writing, with the prescribed fee and at least two character references from people the regulations do not disqualify (s 7(1)). Disqualified referees include a person convicted within the previous 5 years of an offence in connection with running a business or involving fraud or dishonesty, and an associate of the applicant.
• Advertise the application at least once in a newspaper circulating generally throughout the State (reg 6(5)).
• A company names a manager: a natural person resident in the State, with 2 character references for that person (s 7(3), reg 6(3)).
• The test for granting is fitness and propriety (for a company, of those who control it), sufficient knowledge and experience in the applicant or its manager to run the business properly, and suitable arrangements to fulfil the obligations the Act may impose (s 7(11)).
• Term and renewal. A licence lasts for the period stated in it, not more than two years (s 8), and a renewal must be lodged at least 14 days before it expires (s 9(2), reg 7).

Working without a licence is an offence with a Division 5 fine (s 6), and under s 14 a person who acts as an agent in breach of the licensing rules “is not entitled to recover any fee for so acting”; a court convicting them may, on the prosecutor’s application, order a fee already received to be repaid.

The premises and what hangs on the wall

A licence holder must not carry on business except at premises registered under s 16, unless the Director permits another place for a day or a period. At registered premises the agent must keep in a conspicuous place a notice of the agent’s name (s 17) and a notice “clearly showing the scale of fees for the time being chargeable” (s 19(1)), in the form of Schedule 1 Form 2 of the regulations. Regulation 10 exempts temporary or part-staffed premises at an employer’s own workplace from ss 16, 17 and 19.

Fees, from both sides

From workers, s 20 forbids a fee charged only because the person is listed or the agent is seeking work for them, a recurring fee, and a fee where the agent hires the worker itself; the guide to job seeker fees has the detail.

From employers, s 21(1) bars a fee for finding a worker unless the worker has made contact with the employer about that employment, or the fee is payable under a written agreement with the agent; s 21(2) still allows a deposit and payments the regulations authorise. And the fee must not exceed the rate in the scale displayed at the agent’s registered premises (s 21(3)).

The statement a placed worker receives

Where an agent procures employment for a person, s 20(4) requires the person to be given, to keep, a statement in the prescribed form containing, in full:

1. “the name and business address of the employer; and
2. where the person must first attend for the purposes of the employment; and
3. whether the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986 will apply in relation to the person and details of any other insurance arrangements that will apply in respect of the employment (including who will be responsible for the payment of any premium); and
4. the arrangements (if any) that will apply for the payment of income tax; and
5. the name of any award that applies in relation to the employment; and
6. details of any occupational superannuation to which the person will be entitled; and
7. details of any entitlements to paid leave that will accrue during the employment; and
8. details of any expenses (or kinds of expenses) which will be reimbursed or otherwise paid for by the employer.”

Employment Agents Registration Act 1993 (SA), s 20(4)

The prescribed form, Schedule 1 Form 3 of the 2025 regulations, ends with a note: “It is recommended that you verify the information contained in this statement with your employer.”

Records

Section 22 requires records of each client’s name, any deposit, prescribed information about employment arranged, any fee paid for hiring or engaging a worker, and anything else prescribed, kept on the registered premises for one year.

The Employment Agents Act 2026, not yet in force

The Employment Agents Act 2026 was assented to on 24 September 2026. Once in operation it repeals the Employment Agents Registration Act 1993; it comes into operation “on a day to be fixed by proclamation.” Its Parts include a code of conduct, injunctions and inspectors. The code, prescribed by regulation, may without limitation fix penalties not exceeding $5 000 and expiation fees not exceeding $315 for offences against it.

Whether an unpaid trial shift is lawful is a separate question, not covered here. Labour hire in South Australia, under a different Act, is in the labour hire licensing guide; job ads are in their own guide.