State Labor governments are arguing their wage theft laws can co-exist with federal underpayment laws, risking the prospect of multiple criminal regimes as the Albanese government pushes to introduce its own jail time for underpayments.

State and territory attorneys-general from Victoria, Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Northern Territory have intervened in a High Court test case to oppose a challenge to their power to enforce jail time for deliberate underpayments due to alleged overlaps with the Fair Work Act’s jurisdiction.