AN explosion of shonky backpacker operators is putting young people at risk a decade after the Palace Backpackers Hostel fire at Childers claimed 15 lives.

As the tiny Burnett town prepares to mark the sad anniversary this June, authorities say illegal backpacker operators are still rife and their actions are jeopardising lives through sub-standard accommodation and unsafe transport.

Fifteen backpackers from Britain, Holland, Ireland, Japan, Korea and Australia died in the Palace fire on June 23, 2000.

In the Bundaberg region alone, the council estimates 1000 unapproved beds are in use during peak picking times – almost double the legal number.

Similar problems are being experienced in horticultural regions around Emerald and Bowen, where illegal operators lure unwitting backpackers via the internet.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said Queensland Fire and Rescue Services had inspected more than 750 budget accommodation buildings since 2007. Of those, the owners of 345 were issued with notices to cut occupancy and another 136 were ordered to upgrade fire safety systems.

In 2009, the owners of 94 buildings were told to slash the number of tenants.

But Bundaberg Regional Council Mayor Lorraine Pyefinch yesterday said some unscrupulous operators were still cramming up to 20 people into three-bedroom homes – and charging them $100 a week for the privilege.

Former Isis Shire Council mayor Bill Trevor, who was in office during the Palace tragedy, said lessons from the fire had not been learned.

"How quickly we forget," he said. "Having gone through what we went through, I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they take any risk, because – 10 years down the track – families are still paying the price for the loss of their children."

John Walker, from the Bundy Workers and Divers' Hostel, said the problem was "huge" but enforcement was spasmodic because of the differing levels of government involved.

A Queensland Workplace Health and Safety official said illegal accommodation policing was a council responsibility.

English backpacker Claire Haslop, 23, of Manchester, who was gathering potatoes on a farm near Bundaberg this week, said she had been the victim of a dodgy local operator and was now more careful.

{Source: Courier Mail}