Based on a survey of over 5,000 international students in 2019, the International Students and Wage Theft in Australia report reveals that, despite commitments to improve conditions, the overwhelming majority of international students are still subject to wage theft and poor employment conditions. 

Key findings include:

●       77% were paid below the minimum casual hourly wage.

●       32% of Bachelor’s degree students earned just half the minimum casual hourly wage or less ($12/hr or less).

●       26% of all international students earned half the minimum casual hourly wage or less — a figure unchanged since the 2016 National Temporary Migrant Work Survey.

●       The overwhelming majority of students who were underpaid knew the minimum wage (86%), but 62% believed they were at fault for the underpayment and had broken the law by accepting below minimum wages.

●       91% of those with self-reported poor or fair English were paid below the minimum casual hourly wage, but underpayment was also experienced by 68% of those with self-reported good or very good English. 

●       Underpayment was as common among Masters students as it was among English language students.

●       38% reported that they did not seek information or help for a problem at work because they did not want ‘problems that might affect my visa’.

The report recommends a new effective and accessible wage recovery mechanism, more effective government investigation and enforcement, removal of the 40-hour fortnightly work limitation on student visas which makes them much more vulnerable to exploitation and is commonly breached, introduction of an absolute firewall preventing the Fair Work Ombudsman sharing a worker’s information with Department of Home Affairs to alleviate fears of visa problems if migrant workers report exploitation to the regulator, improved facilitation of collective action by international students and other workers, and increased provision of legal assistance from education providers and government.

Funded by StudyNSW, the Information for Impact Survey is the most comprehensive study of housing and working conditions among international students in New South Wales, and across Australia.  It was conducted in April and May 2019, and yielded 5,064 valid responses. In December 2019, Information for Impact Survey findings on housing were published in Living Precariously: Understanding International Students’ Housing Experiences in Australia.