Unions hail new protections for migrant workers

ACTU President Michele O’Neil says new migrant worker exploitation is “a national shame” and new laws tackling the plight of migrant workers in Australia are an important step forward.

The proposed changes would make it a criminal offence to pressure someone into breaching their visa conditions, an offence which will have a penalty of up to two years in prison. Employers will be barred from hiring people on temporary visas if they have previously exploited migrants, and regulations will be amended on three types of visas to extend the allowable time between employer sponsors for migrants from a maximum of 90 days to 180 days.

O’Neil said the exploitation of workers in Australia on short term visas “hurts all workers and exposes the impact of a migration system that has shifted away from permanent migration towards a guest worker, individual employer-driven approach”.

“We commend the government for beginning to take action to protect migrant workers and increase the penalties for employers who see temporary migrant workers as an easy target for exploitation.”

The Human Rights Law Centre and the Migrant Justice Institute led a coalition of 40 organisations including unions, migrant rights, and faith-based groups to develop a “blueprint” for visa protections for migrant workers.

They said drivers of exploitation had included “temporary visa conditions that tie workers to single employers, no protection or guarantee that workers reporting workplace exploitation will not face deportation and weak regulation and enforcement”.

The Government plans a system that includes protections against visa cancellation for workers reporting exploitation, a visa to enable temporary migrant workers to remain in the country while they pursue their workplace entitlements, and the creation of a ‘firewall’ between the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Department of Home Affairs to encourage workers to report exploitation without suffering adverse immigration outcomes.

Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, Co-Executive Director of the Migrant Justice Institute, and UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice, told SBS the reforms "could be a game-changer for stopping the exploitation of migrant workers in Australia – if they are effectively designed".

“For the first time, migrant workers could safely address wage theft and walk 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."

The new regulations mean a sponsored migrants can leave a corrupt employer and work to support themselves for up to six months until they a new sponsor. There is also a commitment to ensuring all workers are protected by Australian workplace laws regardless of their immigration status.

Inderjit Kaur, a temporary visa holder and advocate with the Migrant Workers Centre, said two employers had stolen her wages because they knew her visa would be cancelled if she stood up to them.

“Because I had no security with my visa, I could not take action until it was too late. I never got back any of the money that was stolen from me and my visa is now uncertain. This should not have happened to my family, and it should not happen to migrants who are coming to Australia now.”

Launching the new laws at Victorian Trades Hall, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles described the current arrangement for many migrant workers as a "crisis of exploitation".

"These reforms will help workers speak up and target those employers who do the wrong thing."

The Australian Border Force will be allocated $50 million to help enforce the new laws.

Clare O’Neil, Minister for Home Affairs, said that over the past 10 years the migration system had “drifted deeper and deeper into reliance on low-paid temporary migrant workers who we know are routinely exploited”.

"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," she said.

Michele O’Neil says more needs to be done to “engineer exploitation out of our migration system”.

“Migrant workers should be able to enforce their workplace rights without jeopardising their ability to stay in the country.”