New visa-based protections could be a game-changer for migrant workers
Migrant Justice Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre today welcome the Albanese Government's commitment to introducing visa-based protections for migrant workers who address exploitation at work.
The Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles committed today to introducing 3 important protections for migrant workers: protection against visa cancellation, flexible visa requirements for future sponsorship visas, and a short-term visa to bring claims for wages they are owed and hold exploitative employers to account.
The Human Rights Law Centre, Migrant Justice Institute and academics at UNSW and UTS have led a coalition of 40 organisations across the country - including trade unions, migrant rights and faith-based groups - to develop a blueprint for visa protections for migrant workers. Today’s announcement reflects the commitment of migrant workers and their allies.
Migrant Justice Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre also welcome the government’s announcement of two further protections for migrant workers, for which they and other migrant worker allies have campaigned for many years: regulations to enable sponsored migrants to leave a dodgy employer and work to support themselves for up to 6 months while they find a new sponsor, and a commitment to changing the Migration Act to ensure all workers are protected by Australian workplace laws regardless of immigration status.
The coalition warned, however, that in order to be effective, visa-based protections must be robust and reflect the realities of migrants’ lives at work. The ‘co-design’ of those protections by the Department of Home Affairs must centre migrant workers, their representatives in the union movement and allies.
Inderjit Kaur, a temporary visa holder and advocate with the Migrant Workers Centre, said:
“I had my wages stolen by two employers, because they knew my visa could be cancelled if I stood up to them, and they took advantage of that. 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.”
Sanmati Verma, Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:
“The Albanese Government has finally heeded the call from migrant workers and their allies to introduce visa protections for migrant workers. It has a critical opportunity over the coming months to design out some of the levers for exploitation in the migration regime. If it is serious about achieving that, it will put migrant workers and their allies at the centre of co-designing these critical protections.”
Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, Co-Executive Director of the Migrant Justice Institute, and UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice said:
“The visa protections announced today 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.”
Associate Professor Laurie Berg, Co-Executive Director of the Migrant Justice Institute, and Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney said:
“These changes must be implemented urgently. The cap on international students’ work hours returns on 1 July. Employers know that if students work more hours than permitted, their visa could be cancelled if they report abuse. The combination of cost-of-living pressures to work more hours and lack of visa protections will create a perfect storm for widespread exploitation that may be the worst we’ve seen.”
Background
The Migrant Justice Institute, the Human Rights Law Centre and law academics at UTS and UNSW have provided the government with a detailed blueprint for visa-based protections endorsed by more than 40 trade unions, migrant rights, community services and faith-based organisations across the country, including the NSW Modern Slavery Commissioner. These proposed reforms were recently endorsed by the Grattan Institute, the Global Slavery Index and the UN Global Compact Network of Australia – a network that includes many ASX100 companies.
The proposal includes a new Workplace Justice Visa for migrant workers to enforce their labour rights and an Exploited Worker Visa Guarantee for workers whose visa could be cancelled.
Read the Breaking the Silence proposal here
Media contact:
Thomas Feng
Human Rights Law Centre
Media and Communications Manager
0431 285 275
thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au
Assoc Prof Bassina Farbenblum
Migrant Justice Institute and UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice
0412 105 177
bassina@migrantjustice.org
Assoc Prof Laurie Berg
Migrant Justice Institute and UTS Law Faculty
0433 525 745
laurie@migrantjustice.org