New workplace justice visa crucial for preventing migrant worker exploitation
A new Workplace Justice Visa will help exploited migrants stay in Australia for a short period.
The visa enforces their workplace rights and holds employers to account for labour violations and modern slavery.
Temporary migrant workers can also access a new protection against visa cancellation. It guarantees their visa will not be cancelled if they come forward to hold exploitative employers accountable.
“Migrant workers in Australia have been forced to choose between seeking justice and being able to stay in the communities they call home,” Walk Free’s Policy Manager Bernadette Joudo said.
“With the Workplace Justice Visa and new protections against visa cancellation, employers can no longer coerce migrant workers with threats of deportation for visa violations.
“Migrant workers are three times more likely to experience forced labour than other adult workers. These new protections are an important first step to protect vulnerable workers from modern slavery.”
How widespread is wage exploitation among Australian migrant workers?
The Migrant Justice Institute surveyed over 15,000 migrant workers over 8 years and found that:
- Around 75% earned below the casual rates for minimum wage.
- 25% earned less than half of the minimum wage.
- 9 in 10 underpaid workers took no action, mostly out of fear of jeopardising their visa or future stay in Australia.
How was the Workplace Justice Visa developed?
The Workplace Justice Visa and visa cancellation protection were developed in the Breaking the Silence report, co-authored by the Migrant Justice Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre.
The new pilot visa protections were co-designed by the Department of Home Affairs and key coalition leaders, along with employer groups.
They include the ACTU, Migrant Workers Centre, Unions NSW, Westjustice, South-East Monash Legal Service, Redfern Legal Centre and Immigration Advice and Rights Centre, along with Human Rights Law Centre and Migrant Justice Institute.
