Do Australian employers have to check visa work conditions with VEVO in 2026?

Whether Australian employers must check visa work conditions in VEVO, why consent is required, and what penalties apply if they don't.

Published: 11 October 2026

Yes. If you are hiring someone who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you are expected to confirm their visa work conditions before they start, and the Department of Home Affairs directs employers to do that through VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online), its free online checking system. You must also get the visa holder's permission before you run the check. That is the position set out on the Department's Information for employers and labour hire organisations page and its VEVO checking page, current as at October 2026.

These rules are set out here in general terms rather than as advice on any particular hiring decision; where a specific engagement is at stake, the current official pages and a properly qualified adviser are the points of reference.

What exactly does the law prohibit?

The obligation rests on three prohibitions, all of which sit under the Migration Act 1958. It is against the law to:

hire a non-citizen who does not hold a valid visa
hire a non-citizen to do work that goes against their visa conditions
pressure a non-citizen without a valid visa into working

The Department's wording is deliberately wide elsewhere: it states that it is illegal to exploit migrant workers even where the person is doing paid or unpaid training, has already broken their own visa rules, or does not hold a valid Australian visa. In other words, a worker's own breach does not give an employer a defence, and "they offered to do it" is not an answer.

The same page lists the conduct that counts as exploitation in its own right: keeping a migrant worker's passport, threatening to cancel a visa, threatening to report a worker to immigration authorities, pressuring someone to work more hours than their visa allows, threatening future visa applications, forcing workers to live in unsafe or crowded housing as part of the job, sexual harassment, underpayment, asking a worker to repay sponsorship, nomination or recruitment costs, and asking for money in exchange for sponsorship.

Is VEVO specifically required, or is it just the recommended method?

The Department's instruction on the employer responsibilities page is direct: make sure you check a potential employee's visa work conditions through the free online system, VEVO, and get the visa holder's permission. That is the mechanism the Department names, and it is free to use.

The underlying legal duty is about the outcome — you must not employ someone in breach of the three prohibitions above. VEVO is how the Department says to discharge that duty. If you skip the check and the person turns out to hold no valid visa, or holds conditions that do not permit the work you have given them, the exposure sits with you whether or not you actually knew.

One Department case study makes the point sharply. A student visa holder is rostered past the 48 hours per fortnight his visa allows; his manager knows, keeps rostering him anyway, underpays him, and then tells him that complaining will mean a report to the authorities. Allowing him to work in breach of his conditions and underpaying him are already unlawful. Pressuring him to breach those conditions, and using the threat of a report to keep him quiet, adds a further offence.

Do you need the visa holder's consent, and how do you ask for it?

You must get the visa holder's permission. This is not a formality that can be handled after the fact.

Ask the candidate for permission to run a VEVO check, before you check.
Tell them what you are checking and why.
Run the check once you have that permission.
If they refuse, do not check — and do not proceed on an assumption about their status.

A candidate who will not consent leaves you unable to verify conditions, which in practice means you cannot satisfy yourself that the engagement is lawful. Treat that as a reason not to proceed rather than a problem to work around.

Does using a labour hire company move the responsibility to them?

No. Using a labour hire organisation does not free you from your obligations to migrant workers. You still have to know and follow the law, and make sure workers are treated fairly and not exploited.

The Department suggests including a clause in your contracts with labour hire organisations requiring them to use VEVO to check the visa conditions of potential workers, and to ensure their migrant workers are paid correctly and treated fairly under Australian law, including the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Migration Act 1958. A contractual clause does not transfer the legal duty, but it does put the expectation beyond argument.

What happens if you get it wrong?

Breaches of the Migration Act 1958 can lead to a direction to take certain action or stop doing something, a fine, a ban on employing migrant workers for a defined period, or criminal prosecution and a civil penalty. For serious, deliberate or repeated breaches, the exposure includes up to five years' jail and fines of up to $131,040 (360 penalty units).

The prohibited employer scheme

A separate consequence is being declared a "prohibited employer", which bans employers found guilty of serious breaches from hiring more temporary migrant workers. The Minister for Immigration may designate an individual or a corporation. The length of the prohibition depends on the findings:

Finding	Maximum prohibition
Human trafficking and modern slavery	No maximum length
A criminal offence other than human trafficking or modern slavery	Up to 10 years
All other migrant worker sanctions	Up to 5 years

If a declaration is being considered, you receive a letter inviting you to explain why you should not be declared, and your response is considered before a decision is made. Breaching a prohibition once it is in place can itself lead to criminal prosecution and up to five years' jail, a fine of up to $131,040 (360 penalty units), or both. Temporary visa holders already working for you at the time of the declaration may continue if they wish; the ban applies to hiring new ones.

If you are also a sponsor

Sponsorship obligations are a separate layer, and more than one sanction can be imposed. A sponsor who fails to meet its obligations may face cancellation of its approval as a sponsor, a ban on sponsoring other workers, a ban on making future applications for approval, an infringement notice, civil penalties imposed by the courts, a compliance notice, or an Enforceable Undertaking.

The figures on the Department's Sponsor responsibilities page, current as at July 2026, are specific: an infringement notice can impose $79,200 for a body corporate or $15,840 for an individual for each failure, while civil penalties can reach up to $396,000 for a body corporate and $79,200 for an individual for each failure. Sponsors penalised for exploiting migrant workers can also have their business name or personal name published on the Australian Border Force register of sanctioned sponsors.

Does a worker's visa status change their workplace rights?

No. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, all visa holders and migrant workers have the same workplace rights and protections as other employees in Australia, regardless of their migration status. Pay, leave and other entitlements, and protection from discrimination, are not scaled down because someone holds a temporary visa — or no valid visa.

That is why a VEVO check is a starting point rather than the whole exercise. Knowing a person's work conditions tells you what you may lawfully employ them to do. It does not reduce what you owe them once they are doing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a VEVO check legally mandatory for Australian employers in 2026?

The Department of Home Affairs directs employers to make sure they check a potential employee's visa work conditions through VEVO, and to get the visa holder's permission first. The strict legal duty is to avoid employing a non-citizen with no valid visa or in breach of their visa conditions; VEVO is the free system the Department names for satisfying that duty.

Does a VEVO check cost anything?

No. VEVO is described by the Department as a free online system for checking visa conditions. Any cost associated with a check would come from the time spent obtaining consent and recording the result, not from the system itself.

What if a candidate refuses to give permission for the check?

You cannot run the check without permission, and you cannot lawfully proceed on an assumption about their visa status. The practical response is to treat the refusal as a reason not to continue with the engagement.

Do I need to re-check visa conditions after the person starts?

The Department's guidance frames the VEVO check as something done before engaging someone — it refers to checking a potential employee's visa work conditions. If you are a sponsor, your obligations continue and you must notify the Department if there is a change in your business circumstances or a change relating to the person you are sponsoring.

If I am declared a prohibited employer, do my current workers have to stop?

No. Temporary visa holders already working for you at the time of the declaration may continue working for you if they wish. The ban applies only to hiring new temporary visa holders.

Can I ask a sponsored worker to repay recruitment or sponsorship costs?

No. Asking a migrant worker to repay sponsorship, nomination or recruitment costs, or asking for money in exchange for visa sponsorship, is listed by the Department as unlawful conduct. It is also unlawful to exploit a worker even if they have broken their visa rules or hold no valid visa.

I use a labour hire firm — am I still on the hook?

Yes. Using a labour hire organisation does not free you from your obligations to migrant workers. The Department suggests requiring them by contract to use VEVO on potential workers and to ensure their workers are paid correctly and treated fairly.