{"id":1975,"date":"2020-07-14T10:31:47","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T00:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2026-02-05T20:10:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T09:10:02","slug":"victorian-law-wage-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/victorian-law-wage-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Landmark Victorian law makes wage theft punishable by up to 10 years\u2019 jail"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/category\/strategy-legal-operations\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Strategy, Legal &amp; Operations<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLandmark Victorian law makes wage theft punishable by up to 10 years\u2019 jail\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2020-07-14T10:31:47+10:00\">July 14, 2020<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Landmark Victorian law makes wage theft punishable by up to 10 years\u2019 jail\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/victorian-law-wage-theft\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/author\/ashleyhindsman\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/02\/Ashley-Thompson-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Ashley Thompson\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/02\/Ashley-Thompson-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/02\/Ashley-Thompson.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Ashley Thompson<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On 16 June 2020, the Victorian government passed the Wage Theft Bill 2020, introducing severe new criminal penalties for businesses found guilty of deliberate wage theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The legislation is the first of its kind in Australia and comes in response to a series of high-profile underpayment cases in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-new-law\"><strong>What is the new law?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wage Theft Bill 2020 law stipulates that employers will be held criminally liable if they:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dishonestly withhold wages, superannuation or other entitlements from employees<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Falsify or fail to keep an employee entitlement record to dishonestly obtain or cover up a financial advantage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers who make honest mistakes or exercise due diligence in paying wages and other employee entitlements will not be subject to these offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bill will run alongside all other obligations an employer has under federal laws and industrial instruments it is subject to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">eBook: The Impact of Wage Underpayments in Australia<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span class=\"TextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\">The number of Australian organisations found <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\">underpay<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\">ing staff has\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun BCX0 SCXW166631159\">grown dramatically in recent years.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Download this ebook to discover:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">The role annualised salary errors play in cases of wage underpayment<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">What went wrong in Australia&#8217;s 2 biggest cases of wage underpayment<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">The 4<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">\u00a0main factors contributing to <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">the rise in\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">underpayment<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">\u00a0cases<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">6 tips to help <\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">prevent\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\">underpayments<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-AU\" xml:lang=\"EN-AU\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW25045086 BCX0\"> in your business<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-51425026-c896-4fd7-b474-caf5801b7955\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Download eBook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-934870386-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-934870386-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-the-criminal-penalties\"><strong>What are the criminal penalties?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Those found guilty could face up to 10 years\u2019 jail time as well as fines of up to $198,264 for individuals or $991,320 for companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bill establishes the Wage Inspectorate Victoria as a new statutory authority with powers to investigate and prosecute alleged employee entitlement offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-has-victoria-passed-this-law\"><strong>Why has Victoria passed this law?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wage Theft Bill 2020 has been in the making for several years. It comes after a raft of high-profile cases of underpayments, which compelled the Fair Work Commission to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/changes-to-modern-awards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">introduce new obligations around annualised salary arrangements<\/a> in March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May 2018, the Victorian Government committed to introduce new laws to make wage theft a criminal offence, featuring as a key promise leading into the 2018 state election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bill was introduced to parliament in March 2020, where Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy highlighted the spate of underpayment cases as evidence federal civil penalties under the Fair Work Act 2009&nbsp;(Cth) were not a sufficient deterrent against wage theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEmployers who steal money and entitlements from their workers deserve to face the full force of the law, which will include substantial fines or jail time for the worst offenders,\u201d Hennessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis problem is systematic \u2013 that\u2019s why our laws will apply beyond wages and include allowances, gratuities, superannuation and other accruals such as leave, as well as ensuring directors and officers are held to account.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 16 June 2020, the Victorian government passed the Wage Theft Bill 2020, introducing severe new criminal penalties for businesses found guilty of deliberate wage theft. The legislation is the first of its kind in Australia and comes in response to a series of high-profile underpayment cases in recent years. What is the new law? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":1325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,75],"tags":[143,181,236],"business_type":[10,9],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[103,99],"imagine_tag":[65,52,40,39],"coauthors":[285],"class_list":["post-1975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compliance","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-compliance","tag-payroll","tag-payroll-compliance","business_type-small-business","business_type-medium-sized-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-au","author_name":"Ashley Thompson","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/resize-1675x1275-92.jpg","imagine_tags":{"65":"HR and Payroll","52":"Legal","40":"Mid-sized business","39":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Australia","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-au\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}