Int’l students underpaid $3.18bn in wages

“The systemic exploitation of workers on temporary visas has become embedded in Australia’s labour market, a landmark new report has found. The Migrant Justice Institute’s Off the Books report is based on the largest survey of temporary migrant workers conducted in Australian history. It surveyed 8370 migrants working from 2023-24 and found two-thirds were paid less than they should have been under the Fair Work Act. One in five was underpaid by at least $10 per hour. They also received misleading pay slips, weren ’ t paid super, were subject to wage deductions, as well as being employed under sham contracts, the report found. It revealed international students alone were being underpaid by about $61m per week, or $3.18bn annually, indicating the overall amount underpaid to all migrant workers would be “far higher”. Under Australia’s workplace laws, all employees are entitled to an hourly minimum wage – generally determined by an industry award or agreement – regardless of their migration status. For employees whose minimum wages are not covered by an award or registered agreement, they are entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Thirty-four per cent of those surveyed reported experiencing at least one forced labour indicator, a form of modern slavery. These included: being made to work in unsafe conditions excessive or different hours than agreed long periods without breaks being unable to leave a job they wished to leave. “These are not isolated cases of bad employers. This is a system that produces vulnerability at scale, and enables willing employers to exploit it,” Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner Chris Evans said. “Piecemeal Band-Aid measures will not change an entrenched culture of exploitation. “Increased enforcement will help individuals, but it will not change the system.” Mr Evans said the system required a “reset”. “The vulnerabilities that allow exploitation to flourish must be extinguished to allow fair treatment for migrant workers,” he said. He urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene national cabinet and co-ordinate a response that integrates policy areas including immigration, workplace relations, higher education, and antislavery. A review of the pressures of visa and tuition fees and access to safe, lawful work for international students was essential, he said. “Addressing systemic underpayment is foundational to preventing modern slavery,” Mr Evans said. “If exploitation is systemic, our response must be systemic too.” The report’s recommendations include establishing a national labour hire licensing scheme, a crackdown on concealment indicators, and stronger whistleblower protections, such as expanded access to the Workplace Justice Visa. It also acknowledged the Albanese government’s sweeping industrial relations reforms in 2022 and 2024 and described them as a “step in the right direction” but concluded they were “inadequate to address the widespread, deliberate underpayment of migrant workers” revealed in the report. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth has been contacted for comment.

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