Legislation this week a first step towards equal rights for migrant workers

The Human Rights Law Centre and Migrant Justice Institute welcome legislation passed this week that is the first critical step to upholding migrant workers’ rights at work.

While everyone in a job in Australia should have the same rights at work, the migration system itself keeps migrant workers in underpaid, unsafe jobs and prevents them from acting on their rights. This not only impacts migrant workers, but impacts wages and conditions across the board.

The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Bill 2023 takes the critical first step towards removing the systemic barriers facing migrants at work, by:

Introducing new visa cancellation protections for migrant workers who have been exploited at work 
Decriminalising undocumented work by migrant workers in Australia;
Establishing criminal offences and penalties for employers who exploit workers; and
Improving transparency through public disclosure around prohibited employers, ensuring those who have exploited workers are held accountable.

Together with these measures, the Labor government has publicly committed to introducing visa-based protections for migrant workers, first proposed by the Migrant Justice Institute and Human Rights Law Centre in their Breaking the Silence report. These include:

A guarantee against visa cancellation for migrant workers who have been exploited; and
A substantive visa, to allow exploited workers to remain in Australia to pursue action against their former employers.

Massimo Calosi, Organiser and Migrant Workers Centre Ambassador:

“Our migration system encourages bosses to exploit migrant workers and lets them get away with it. We bond workers to particular bosses and make permanent residency dependent on work. I have seen this first-hand as a migrant worker in restaurants across Melbourne. It is time we started taking down these barriers so migrant workers have equal pay and conditions and are treated like other members of our community.”

Sanmati Verma, Acting Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre:

“The legislation passed this week is a long-overdue recognition that our migration system drives exploitation. Together with this legislation, visa-based protections are a critical first step to ensuring that migrant workers can enforce their rights at work. While these are hard-fought wins for migrant workers, there is more to be done to ensure that migrant workers’ rights are upheld and they are not made the scapegoats for economic and policy failures by governments. Migrant workers are a critical part of our community – it is time they were treated that way.”

Laurie Berg, Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and Co-Executive Director of the Migrant Justice Institute:

“Finally, we have legal confirmation that workplace protections extend to every worker in Australia, regardless of immigration status. Now, the government must act to enable workers to assert their right without fear of losing their visa. Without further visa protections, exploited workers will remain in the shadows and employer will continue to evade their labour obligations with impunity.”