Visa reforms announced by the Federal Government will allow migrant workers, including international students, to pursue their underpaid wages and entitlements.
These reforms bring us a step closer to justice for migrant workers experiencing wage theft and exploitation.
In addition, temporary migrant workers can now access a guarantee that their visa will not be cancelled if they hold exploitative employers to account.
Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) has advocated for effective visa protections for many years.
We have advised thousands of temporary migrant workers who have faced an impossible choice: stay silent, or risk visa cancellation by speaking out against bosses acting unlawfully.
RLC CEO Camilla Pandolfini said:
"Every day we speak to migrant workers who have been targeted for exploitation by their employers."
"Some have been forced to work around the clock for below minimum wage. Others have been subject to appalling sexual harassment at work.
"Because of a lack of protections, if migrant workers pursue their rights under the law, they risk losing their visa.
"The employer who’s been sponsoring them may withdraw their sponsorship, or the boss who’s bullied them into working 18-hour days may report them for working too many hours and breaching their visa conditions.
“These changes give us real hope that exploited migrant workers can achieve justice."
The new visa protections could offer a lifeline to workers like Fang,* who reached out to RLC for help after learning that she was being paid well below minimum wage.
Fang came to Australia to study, but when she lost financial support from family back in China, she found she had to work more than the 40 hours per fortnight then allowed under her student visa to pay for essentials like housing.
Fang knew that if she reported the wage theft and tried to recover her unpaid wages, she risked her previous employer reporting her for working too many hours.
RLC is among a number of community legal centres, unions, advocacy and human rights organisations that were invited to help make these new visa protections a reality through a ‘co-design’ process.
We look forward to continuing to assist migrant workers like Fang to address migrant worker exploitation and to further positive reform to ensure the rights of all workers are protected equally.
* Not her real name
