Big fines for firms who exploit fruit pickers

Dodgy labour hire providers will be ousted from Victoria as the state's first ever licensing scheme kicks off in April.

Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas on Thursday said the new scheme will take effect from April 29 and require labour hire service providers to be licensed, in a bid to protect workers from exploitation and crack down on rogue operators.

"It will weed out those who've seen exploitation of workers as a opportunity to cut their costs. This will level the playing field up for those more responsible operators," Mr Pallas said. Read more of this Age article.