The Australian government has released its report on the review of the federal court system for claiming unpaid wages. It adopts several key reforms we proposed in last year’s All Work, No Pay report, which we submitted in draft to the review. These include a new ‘equal access costs’ model that will remove unfair legal costs for workers who successfully recover the wages they are owed.
The Law Report | Damien Carrick
Damien spoke to one of the first exploited migrant workers to obtain the new workplace justice visa.
He also interviewed our Co-Executive Director Laurie Berg about our All Work, No Pay report.
Today, the Australian government introduced world-leading visa reforms based on our 2023 proposal, Breaking the Silence, which was endorsed by over 40 organisations. A new ‘Workplace Justice visa’ enables migrants worker to stay in Australia to enforce their labour rights; while expolited workers who have breached their visa will have protections from visa cancellation while they take action against their employer.
The Guardian | Cait Kelly
Of the 4,000 migrant workers interviewed, over half were underpaid. Most knew this, but 9 in 10 did nothing. One went to court – but recovered none of their wages. It is not clear that wages claims are being systematically resolved via other legal forums or by the Fair Work Ombudsman, the report said.
The Conversation | Laurie Berg & Bassina Farbenblum
The widespread underpayment of migrant workers in Australia is now well-documented. The vast majority never recover the wages they are owed.
In July 2023 the Australian government introduced the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023 (Cth) taking up several of our recommendations. Working with Human Rights Law Centre and our other allies, Migrant Justice Institute has made submissions on the Bill and advocated for its amendment in one important respect.
Sydney Morning Herald | Angus Thompson
“University of Technology, Sydney, Associate Professor Laurie Berg, an expert in temporary labour migration, said that as of last month, there were 529,000 international students in the country. She said, according to a 2020 survey she conducted, 65 per cent of student visa holders held jobs.”
Canberra Times | Justine Landis-Hanley
“Associate Professor Laurie Berg, co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute, said the changes could be a ‘game-changer for stopping the exploitation of migrant workers in Australia. For the first time, migrant workers could safely address wage theft and walk away from employers who exploit them without risking their visa.”
This Research and Policy Brief considers migration frameworks that would enable migrant workers to safely speak up, leave abusive employers without losing their visa, or temporarily remain in their country of employment at the end of their stay in order to recover the wages they are owed and hold abusive employers to account
What is wage theft and why is it systemic for migrant workers? Why don't migrant workers recover unpaid wages? What can governments and business do to reduce risks to workers and make wage claim processes work? Our new short Explainer provides governments, business and advocates with accessible answers to these and other key questions on migrant worker wage theft, based on extensive global research.
Please join the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Migrant Justice Institute, Solidarity Center, the ILAW Network and MIDEQ for a global discussion on the ways in which unions are successfully supporting migrant workers to achieve labour justice. February 23,: 8:30 – 10.00am Brussels | 3:30-5.00pm Manila | 6:30-8.00pm Sydney
Canberra Times | Sanmati Verma, Bassina Farbenblum, Laurie Berg, Matt Kunkel
“Research conducted by the Migrant Justice Institute in 2018 found that of the 4332 migrant workers surveyed, around three-quarters were paid less than the casual minimum wage, and yet only 9 per cent of underpaid migrants had taken action to recover their wages.
These figures cannot be explained away by visa holders' lack of understanding or workplace literacy. Nor can they be chalked up to bad-apple employers or fraudsters preying on the unsuspecting.
Rather, they are a product of the insecurity and inequality that has been built into the migration regime over years.Advocates for limiting the working holiday program to one year argue the requirement to work in the regions left workers open to exploitation. A survey by the Migrant Justice Institute found that almost half of all working holidaymakers reported being paid well below the minimum wage.”
Join us on December 14, 2022 at 18:00 GMT for a live global webinar with experts and advocates from around the world to discuss progress and opportunities for ensuring that migrant workers can recover the wages they are owed. The webinar will feature the ILO's launch of a new Guidance Note on Wage Protection. Spanish interpretation will be provided.
Join the Migrant Justice Institute for this important conversation with the lawyers, advocates and organisers involved in driving effective reforms. How have promising changes to laws, policies, and government processes come about? What were the conditions that enabled them? And what lessons can be learned for other advocates?
Wage theft is business as usual in many industries that are reliant on migrant workers. Employers know that most unpaid migrant workers will never recover their wages through government and court processes. With the pandemic leaving even more migrant workers unpaid, the need for effective justice mechanisms has never been more urgent.
Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice for Wage Theft, a new report from Migrant Justice Institute Co-Executive Directors Bassina Farbenblum and Laurie Berg, charts a path forward. Pointing to promising examples from around the world, the report illuminates how the barriers that impede migrant workers’ access to justice can be overcome. These innovations shift risks and burdens of wage recovery away from workers and onto government and business, and disrupt employer expectations of impunity.
The report draws on a year of global consultations and analysis across all regions, in partnership with The Solidarity Center and the ILAW Network. It proposes specific, practical reform targets that can underpin global, national and local wage theft campaigns, and support greater coordination among a community of practice working to achieve effective change.
In early April, Prime Minister Scott Morrison sent a clear message to temporary visa holders that if they were no longer financially solvent to ride out the pandemic, they were not welcome in Australia.
As much as it’s lovely to have visitors to Australia in good times, at times like this, if you are a visitor in this country, it is time […] to make your way home.
As our new research published today shows, this statement fuelled feelings of abandonment and worthlessness among temporary visa holders who have been left out of the government’s economic support schemes during the COVID-19 crisis.
In our survey of more than 6,100 temporary visa holders (including international students, backpackers and holiday workers), many used stark, dehumanising language to describe how they’ve felt since the pandemic began in Australia six months ago.
Read more in The Conversation.
