What is a prohibited employer in Australia and how long can the ban last in 2026?
How Australia's prohibited employer scheme works: the three ban-length tiers, what triggers them, and what happens to staff already on the books.
A prohibited employer is an individual or corporation that the Minister for Immigration has designated after serious breaches of the Migration Act 1958. Once designated, you cannot employ any new temporary visa holders, and the length of that ban depends on the finding against you: no maximum where human trafficking or modern slavery is involved, up to 10 years for other criminal offences, and up to 5 years for all other migrant worker sanctions. This reflects the Department of Home Affairs' "Information for employers and labour hire organisations" page.
How long can a prohibited employer ban last?
The official page sets three tiers, keyed to the nature of the finding rather than to a fixed tariff.
| Finding against the employer | Maximum length of the prohibition |
|---|---|
| Human trafficking and modern slavery | No maximum length of prohibition |
| A criminal offence other than human trafficking or modern slavery | Up to 10 years |
| All other migrant worker sanctions | Up to 5 years |
These are ceilings, not automatic sentences. The Department states that the length of a prohibition depends on the findings against you, and that the Minister may designate either an individual or a corporation. A sole director can therefore be named in their own right, not only through the company.
What conduct puts an employer into the scheme?
The scheme is aimed at employers found guilty of serious breaches of the Migration Act. The conduct the Department lists as unlawful includes taking a migrant worker's passport, pressuring a worker to break their visa work conditions, making threats about their visa or future visa applications, asking for money in exchange for sponsorship, and forcing workers to live in unsafe, dirty or crowded housing as part of the job.
The same page lists wider exploitation behaviour: underpaying a migrant worker, asking a worker to repay sponsorship, nomination or recruitment costs, and sexual harassment. Using someone's immigration status to take advantage of them is unlawful whether or not the worker is on a valid visa, is working in breach of their conditions, or is doing paid or unpaid training.
What happens to temporary visa holders already working for you?
They can stay. The Department states that temporary visa holders who were already working for you at the time of the declaration may continue working for you if they wish — the ban bites only on new temporary visa holders.
Two practical consequences follow. Your existing sponsored workers are not forced out by the declaration itself, and their visa status is not automatically cancelled by it. But you cannot backfill or expand that workforce with new temporary visa holders while the prohibition runs, and the official page gives no mechanism for an exemption to hire additional overseas staff during the ban period.
What is the process before a declaration is made?
The Department describes a short, letter-driven process.
- You receive a letter inviting you to explain why you should not be declared a prohibited employer.
- You prepare and send your response within the timeframe set out in that letter.
- The Department considers your response.
- The Department makes a decision.
- The letter also sets out any rights to seek review once a decision is made.
Read the letter carefully when it arrives. Read the stated response deadline first. Note any review rights it mentions. Gather payroll, roster and visa-check records before you reply. The official page does not publish a standard response period or a standard review pathway, so the timeline that applies to you is the one stated in your own letter.
This article describes the scheme as the Department publishes it and is general information only; it is not advice on any particular business's position, and a business that receives a declaration letter should work from that letter and from advice given on its specific circumstances.
What else follows a prohibition?
Publication is part of the design. The Department states that if you are banned from employing migrant workers and declared a prohibited employer, your business name will be published on the Australian Border Force website. Separately, a sponsor penalised for exploiting migrant workers can have its business name or a personal name made public on the register of sanctioned sponsors.
Breaching the prohibition is itself serious. The official page states that breaching a prohibition can lead to criminal prosecution and up to 5 years' jail, and/or a fine of up to $131,040 (360 penalty units), or both. The same maximum jail term and fine are stated for serious, deliberate or repeated breaches of the Migration Act more generally. Penalty amounts are those stated on the official page; confirm current figures against the Department's published amounts.
How does a prohibition compare with other sponsor sanctions?
A prohibition is one sanction among several, and the Department notes that more than one sanction can be imposed for failures to meet sponsorship obligations. The "Sponsor responsibilities" page lists:
- cancellation of approval as a sponsor
- a ban on sponsoring other workers
- a ban on making future applications for approval as a sponsor
- an infringement notice with a specified financial penalty — given on that page as $79,200 for a body corporate or $15,840 for an individual, for each failure
- civil penalties imposed by the courts — given as up to $396,000 for a body corporate and $79,200 for an individual, for each failure
- a compliance notice to address alleged breaches
- an Enforceable Undertaking, described as a legally binding written agreement between the sponsor and the Department of Home Affairs / Australian Border Force
The distinguishing feature of a prohibited employer declaration is the hiring bar itself. The other sanctions operate on your status as a sponsor or on your wallet; a prohibition removes your access to new temporary visa holder labour for a defined period.
What should an employer check before it gets to that point?
Check each worker's visa conditions in VEVO before they start. Take the visa holder's permission first. Pay sponsored workers at the salary agreed when their visa was granted. Keep the worker in the occupation approved for the nomination. Do not deduct sponsorship, recruitment or migration agent costs from pay. Do not hold passports or documents. Do not use visa status to pressure anyone into extra hours, silence or unwanted conduct.
Labour hire arrangements do not transfer the risk away. The Department states that using a labour hire organisation does not free you from your obligations to migrant workers, and suggests including contract clauses requiring the labour hire firm to check visa conditions through VEVO and to pay and treat workers correctly under Australian law.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a prohibited employer ban stop me hiring Australian workers?
The restriction is stated in terms of temporary visa holders. The Department's wording is that you are no longer able to employ any new temporary visa holders, and that this is the only hiring bar created by the declaration. The official page does not describe the designation as a general ban on engaging staff.
Can existing sponsored workers keep their jobs after the declaration?
Yes, if they choose to. Temporary visa holders already working for you at the time of the declaration may continue working for you. The ban applies to hiring new temporary visa holders, not to removing the people already on your payroll.
Is there a maximum ban for human trafficking or modern slavery findings?
No maximum is stated. The official page gives no maximum length of prohibition for human trafficking and modern slavery, which sits in a different tier from the 10-year and 5-year ceilings that apply to other criminal offences and to other migrant worker sanctions.
Will the business name be made public?
Yes. The Department states that a prohibited employer's business name will be published on the Australian Border Force website. Where a sponsor is penalised for exploiting migrant workers, the business name or a personal name can also appear on the register of sanctioned sponsors.
Can a prohibited employer declaration be reviewed?
The Department states that further information, including any rights to seek review once a decision is made, will be explained to you. It does not set out a single review pathway on that page, so the review options available to you are those identified in the correspondence you receive.
What if I hire a new temporary visa holder while banned?
The official page treats breaching a prohibition as a serious matter that can lead to criminal prosecution, with up to 5 years' jail and/or a fine of up to $131,040 (360 penalty units), or both.