20 June 2014 - SBS World News Radio
Transcript from SBS World News Radio
International students make up over 20 per cent of students studying in Australia at tertiary level.
They are part of an education export industry worth $15 billion annually.
But the exploitation of international students in their work, away from their studies, is threatening Australia's international reputation as a fair country to work and study in.
Widyan Al Ubudy reports.
The Council of International Students Australia is calling for harsh crackdowns on employers who exploit international students at work.
A new report by the union lobby group United Voice suggests three out of four international students working in the cleaning industry in Victoria know little about their workplace rights.
In Sydney, Redfern Legal Centre solicitor Kate Gauld says the international students -- 470,000 of them in Australia -- need early education on their workplace rights.
"Certainly, the more that international students can be aware of their rights from the beginning, the better. It means that they might be less likely to accept employment from something that really has alarm bells, from my perspective, written all over it. So any type of education work that can be done so that they do know that right from the get go would be absolutely beneficial."
But Ms Gauld says the problem is bigger than just a lack of awareness.
Some cases she works on involve allegedly sham contracts, where employers hire the students illegally by forcing them to get Australian Business Numbers instead of tax file numbers.
Ms Gauld says that gives employers the freedom to withhold work entitlements from international students.
"The students might not know the implications for that, and so what it means is that, legally, they're setting themselves up essentially as running their own business without knowing that they're doing that. And it also means that they're not getting certain entitlements that the students should be getting. Meanwhile, the employer is dodging their responsibility for certain things as well. When it comes to tax time, the students may not know then what that means in terms of their tax return, what they have to put in for.
The Council of International Students Australia says almost half of international students working in Australia are being paid below or just above minimum wage.
Studies support that figure, and council president Thompson Cheng says a small number do not get paid at all.
Mr Cheng says, because of pay exploitation, international students are forced to work extra hours, causing some to breach their visa requirements and risk deportation.
"Number one is this is a very serious breach of the visa regulations. And the result of this could lead to a potential deportation and also a visa cancellation for the students. It's very crystal clear that a student visa allows students to work for 40 hours per fortnight. And, because of this clause, I think students should keep to that standard."
The report by the lobby group United Voice on international students in the cleaning industry in Victoria also found 40 per cent of those surveyed had experienced racism.
Mr Cheng says issues of workplace bullying and harassment, including racism, are not uncommon.
"Racist remarks are something that is quite common in the workplace and especially where the environment itself is a very high-pressure environment, where a lot of work has been going on, a lot of tasks have been done. And when international students do not have a strong language ability, that's where it will create a lot of conflict and frustration within the communication with the employers. And that is where, sometimes, we will see employers start using racist remarks, (situations) that could potentially lead to racist remarks, and (that's) very hurting to international students. It's very common, and it's happening."
An international student we will call William to protect his identity is a civil engineering student who came to Australia in 2012 from China.
He says he was forced to work long hours in an unsafe environment and was even made to buy personal items for his employer without reimbursement.
Six months later, he says, he still has not been paid his wages of $1,100.
"I paid for their grocery shopping. I paid for the microwave and Christmas tree, daily shopping like food, that kind of thing. They told me I will get this money back together with my working payment."
William has now taken his case to the Redfern Legal Centre in the hopes of getting some of the money he worked for.
And he is warning other international students to learn from his mistakes.
"I think, at the beginning, if you are working for someone, you need to know who they are, you need to get the ABN from them, and you need to let them clarify how much you will be paid and when you will be paid. I think the point is that you need to get more details from your employer."
