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The announced measures will help protect vulnerable workers after it found one in six migrants in Australia is paid less than minimum wage.
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Government to act on migrant worker ‘crisis of exploitation’
06 June 2023
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The Albanese government says its announced range of measures will protect migrant workers from exploitation and crack down on employers who look to target temporary visa holders.
Minister for immigration Andrew Giles described the current migrant worker situation as a “crisis of exploitation”.
“There is a crisis of exploitation, with up to one in six recent migrants paid less than the minimum wage,” said Mr Giles.
“When migrant workers are being underpaid – it hurts all of us, driving wages and conditions down for everyone.”
“These reforms will help workers speak up and target those employers who do the wrong thing.”
The government said Mr Giles will introduce legislation into parliament in the coming weeks that would penalise unfair employers and would introduce further measures that would:
- Make it a criminal offence to coerce someone into breaching their visa condition
- Introduce prohibition notices to stop employers from further hiring people on temporary visas where they have exploited migrants
- Increase penalties and new compliance tools to deter exploitation
- Repeal section 235 of the Migration Act which actively undermines people reporting exploitative behaviour.
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It also announced it would provide $50 million in funding to resource the Australian Border Force to help with the enforcement and other compliance activities.
Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil said change need to occur and after eight months of consultation the government has landed on appropriate measures with further changes in the pipeline.
“Over the last ten years our migration system has drifted deeper and deeper into reliance on low-paid temporary migrant workers who we know are routinely exploited, under a government that simultaneously did nothing to prevent this exploitation,” said Ms O’Neil.
“This indifference stops with our government. We are in consultation on systemic changes to our migration system which will ensure it works in the interests of Australian workers and businesses, and we are also doing the work necessary to ensure that no one who comes to this country is exploited or abused.”
The government said it will continue consultation with businesses and unions on whistleblower protections for temporary visa holders and “strengthening the firewall” between the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Department of Home Affairs to encourage exploited workers to report abuse.
Secretary of Unions NSW Mark Morey said the organisation supported the measures, particularly those that held employers accountable that had exploited migrants for gain.
“For too long, workers on temporary migrant visas have been badly exploited because opportunistic bosses have dangled the threat of deportation over their heads,” said Mr Morey. “These are sensible reforms that not only provide migrant workers with better rights, but critically, with the capacity to enforce them.”
“These reforms send a clear message to employers, who will face penalties if they exploit a worker on the basis of their visa status.”
“The government’s commitment to create a firewall between Home Affairs and the Fair Work Ombudsman is a welcome step that we have consistently called for. We look forward to working towards its implementation.”
Associate professor at the UNSW law and justice faculty and co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute, Bassina Farbenblum, said the proposed measures should see migrant workers confidently able to address their wage exploitation.
“The visa protections announced today could be a game-changer for stopping the exploitation of migrant workers in Australia – if they are effectively designed,” said Ms Farbenblum.
“For the first time, migrant workers could safely address wage theft and work away from employers who exploit them without risking their visa.”
“Dodgy employers will no longer be able to assume that international students and other migrants will suffer in silence if they’re underpaid or abused.”
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