Migrant workers struggling to reclaim unpaid wages while balancing visa conditions

MJI’s Bassina Farbenblum was interviewed by the ABC’s Scout Wallen to provide an expert opinion concerning the “extremely few” migrant and visa workers who ever manage to reclaim unpaid wages - 5 September 2025.

Migrant Protection: Calls for workers compensation scheme to be extended to migrant workers

The Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) is under review and MJI’s Bassina Farbenblum joined Joe O’Brien to disscuss this matter on the ABC News on Monday, 17 March 2025.

Migrant Exploitation Experts Call For Increase to Services Accredited With Certifying Workplace Justice Visas

Migrant Justice Institute co-executive director Laurie Berg said while the pilot was world-leading, the government needed to expand the list of partner organisations able to process claims.

United Petroleum Outlets Fined for Underpaying Workers - HRD Australia

Data from the Migrant Justice Institure last year revelaed that wage theft is “widespread” across Australia.

Government wage claim system review: Key MJI recommendations adopted

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 report acknowledges that the ‘small claims’ jurisdiction remains ‘underutilised’ with just 137 small claims filed in 2023-23.  

Australia’s inaccessible wage claim system cannot be allowed to continue. Implementation of an equal access costs model and other recommended reforms must be a priority for whichever government wins the upcoming federal election. 

Dated February last year but only released in 2025, the report contains findings from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ review of the Federal Circuit and Family Court procedure available for claiming unpaid wages up to $100,000.  

all work, no pay recommendations adopted 

Under our ‘equal access costs’ model adopted by the review, a court could order employers to pay the legal costs of workers who succeed in their wage claim against the employer. However, where an employee is unsuccessful, each party would bear its own costs (as is currently the case) unless the worker’s claim is unreasonable or vexatious. This means workers who take their employer to court would no longer have to deduct legal fees from the wages the employer was required to pay in the first place, and would not have to incur the risk of legal costs if they bring a reasonable, but ultimately unsuccessful, wage claim. This would remove a critical obstacle to underpaid workers pursuing wage claims and increase the availability of private lawyers willing to assist vulnerable workers. 

The next government should also implement the following further reforms set out in our All Work, No Pay, which the review recommends for government consideration: 

• Simplification of Court application forms; 

• Visa protections to remove barriers to migrant workers’ pursuit of claims; 

• Extension of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) to temporary visa holders when a business liquidate leaving wages unpaid; 

• Additional funding for community legal services, including the establishment of duty lawyer services; and 

• Consideration of the extension of the small claims jurisdiction to a tribunal and establishment of a new federal industrial court. 

In addition, the report recommends government consider an automatic exemption from filing fees (around $265) for workers aided by a migrant worker centre, union or the FWO, or is claiming less than $5,000, and clear communication of the fee wavier on the court’s website. It suggests government produce a ‘do it yourself’ kit for applicants along with additional information for vulnerable workers including in languages other than English. 

reforms must go further

These reforms will go some way towards improving the effectiveness the wage claim process for migrant workers. However, All Work, No Pay sets out further critical reforms which are necessary to ensure migrant workers can meaningfully access justice for wage theft. Most importantly, we recommend: 

• A new Wages & Superannuation Calculation Service, providing workers with a free and accurate calculation of the amount they are owed, based on information the worker provides about their job and the hours they worked 

• Simplified rules guiding the service of an applicant’s documents on their employer  

• Greater support for parties through case management processes, with new legislative consequences for respondents who fail to attend a hearing or comply with key procedural steps; 

• A new wage guarantee scheme, administered by the Department, to ensure any worker with a court judgment in their favour receives their entitlements if the employer disappears or refuses to pay. 

Without these reforms the wage claim process will remain inaccessible to migrants and many other workers, leaving basic labour protections in Australian law practically unenforceable and effectively hollow. Implementation of an equal access costs model and other recommended reforms must be a priority for whichever government wins the upcoming federal election. 

New 'justice visa' for exploited migrant workers

The Law Report’s Damien Carrick 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.

Migrant workers have long been too scared to report employer misconduct. A new visa could change this

The conversation | Laurie Berg & Bassina Farbenblum

Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported.

On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a two-year pilot of innovative visa reforms that could bring these workers out of the shadows.

Australia has a new Workplace Justice visa

The Australian federal government today introduced world-leading visa reforms to address migrant worker exploitation. Based on our 2023 proposal, Breaking the Silence, which was endorsed by over 40 organisations, these include a new ‘Workplace Justice visa’ permitting migrants worker to stay in Australia to enforce their labour rights. Exploited workers who have breached their visa will have guaranteed immunity from visa cancellation while they take action against their employer. 

Ni-Vanuatu women unite to overcome seasonal work 'nightmare'

A case brought to the Federal Court by 12 Pacific Islander female workers alleges the group was subject to persistent sexual harassment.

The group's fight for justice is being lauded as a possible catalyst for change in an industry where the exploitation of temporary migrants is rife.

Laurie Berg, co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute, says there is a "cycle of impunity" when it comes to the abuse of migrant workers.

2024 National Temporary Migrant Work Survey

We need your help to gather data to drive the next five years of change. Please share the survey with your networks - anybody who's worked in Australia on a visa in the past 15 years can tell us about their experiences. Read all about the survey.

New visa portability rights empower sponsored migrants to leave exploitative employers

Today, in Australia, three sets of reforms set new global best practice standards for protection of migrant workers on temporary visas and prevention of exploitation. 

New laws taking effect today introduce powerful portability rights for employer-sponsored migrant workers – among the strongest in the world. Globally, employer-tied visas trap migrant workers in exploitative work and create a profound power imbalance between abusive employers and migrants who cannot complain or leave their job.  

As of today, many employer-sponsored migrant workers in Australia will be able to: 

• leave their sponsor and remain in Australia for up to 180 days while finding an alternative sponsor (previously 60 days)

• work for any employer in any industry in Australia during that transition period (or choose to not work)

• transition again, for a total of up to 365 days during the course of their visa.   

This will shift the power imbalance between sponsoring employers and migrant workers: migrants who are being underpaid or mistreated at work can now walk away without risking their stay in Australia. They will have time to find a new sponsor, and be able to support themselves while searching. This will hopefully catalyse a race to the top, in which employers will need to compete for migrants by offering safe and fair jobs because migrants who were previously trapped in poor jobs can now leave for better employers. 

Unlike the few other countries that enable exploited migrants to change sponsoring employers, the Australian laws do not require migrants to report exploitation or demonstrate that they have been victims of civil or criminal exploitation in order to obtain permission to leave their employer and remain in the country while finding a new sponsor.

The new portability rights will apply to 

• Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) 

• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) 

• Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visa (subclass 400) 

• Training visa (subclass 407) 

• Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) 

• A number of streams of the 403 Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (other than PALM workers) and some streams of the 408 Temporary Activity visa 

Unfortunately, these provisions do not extend to Pacific Islanders in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme. It remains too difficult for these workers to change their employer without separating from the scheme. 

For more information see: Migration Amendment (Work Related Visa Conditions) Regulations 2024 

Today, we are also a step closer to enactment of a new Workplace Justice Visa that enables migrant workers to remain in Australia to take action against an exploitative employer. Under new regulations enacted today, a new Workplace Justice Visa, proposed in our Breaking the Silence report,  will be available to a worker who can produce a prescribed certificate by government or another eligible certifier that they are undertaking a ‘workplace justice activity’ as prescribed by the Minister. A legislative instrument will soon set out the details for the certification that will underpin the WJ visa pilot. For more information see: Migration Amendment (Workplace Justice Visa) Regulations 2024 

Also today, new protections in the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024 come into effect. These include protections for undocumented workers, new criminal offences for employers who coerce migrants to breach their visa conditions or coerce migrants to acquiesce to poor treatment under threat of immigration consequences, and bans on employers who mistreat workers hiring additional workers on a temporary visa. For more information, see our earlier post on the passage of the law in February.  

Recovering lost wages is nearly impossible for Australia’s underpaid migrant workers

'Virtually impossible' for migrant workers to hold employers accountable for unpaid wages

Australia's law system is seen as "hollow" by migrant workers, who rarely chase up underpayment from their employers, according to a new report.

More

Half of 4,000 interveiwed migrant workers being underpayed, research shows

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.

More

Recovering lost wages is nearly impossible for Australia’s underpaid migrant workers. Here’s how to fix the problem

The widespread underpayment of migrant workers in Australia is now well-documented. The vast majority never recover the wages they are owed.

In 2009, the federal “small claims” court process was established in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The idea was to give workers a simple and accessible forum to claim unpaid wages and entitlements from their employers – without needing a lawyer.

More

REPORT: All Work No Pay

Wage theft is widespread – but very few migrant workers ever recover their wages.

Our report explains why the courts are failing migrant workers and outlines what the government can - and must - do to fix this problem.

Australian survey on international student exploitation planned

A survey examining the degree to which international students are exploited while working in Australia is launching another edition in July.

The Migrant Justice Institute, in a conversation with The PIE News, explained how the working conditions of international students in Australia need another round under the spotlight through its national temporary migrant survey.

“Lots of organisations, and indeed the government have been crying out for us to do another survey to really try and determine what exploitation looks like,” said Laurie Berg, co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute, referring to the organisation’s 2016 and 2019 surveys on the issue, as well as a special Covid-specific survey in 2020.

On July 8, the survey will launch inviting universities across Australia to get their international students to take part, asking about issues like wage deduction.

New Australian law is a victory for migrant workers

Today, the Australian parliament passed an important law decriminalising undocumented workers and confirming that workplace protections apply to all workers regardless of their migration status.

The law, which will commence on 1 July 2024, also strengthens the accountability of employers that exploit migrant workers, and takes the first step towards visa protections for exploited workers who take action against their employers.

Together with our allies, MJI has developed and been campaigning for these reforms for many years. 

IMPORTANT NEW PROTECTIONS FOR UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS 

• The new law repeals the criminal offence of working in breach of visa conditions or working after the expiry of a visa.

• The amendments confirm that workplace protections apply to all workers regardless of any breach of the Migration Act. This includes workers’ compensation for injuries, as well as anti-discrimination and sexual harassment protections. (The Fair Work Act was amended last year to ensure that all workers are also covered by that federal employent law, regardless of any breach of migration laws.)

NEW EMPLOYER OFFENCES and blacklisting

• The law introduces new offences for employers. One criminalises employers who coerce migrants to work in breach of their visa conditions. Further offences criminalise employers who coerce migrants to acquiesce to unacceptable arrangements (such as underpayment, unwanted sexual conduct or poor accommodation) under threat of dobbing them into immigration (if they are undocumented workers) or threat of some other adverse impact on the worker's immigration status. This creates a criminal offence where an employer, for example, threatens a backpacker that they won't sign off on work documents they need to get another working holiday visa unless the backpacker acquiesces to sex with the employer.

• The law introduces other new employer sanctions. Businesses that have been found to have engaged in migrant worker exploitation may be added to a new Prohibited Employer List, which bans those businesses from hiring new migrant workers for a period of time.

Importantly, the Government has further strengthened these new offences by introducing amendments to its bill in the Senate that adopt key recommendations MJI made in submissions and testimony to the Senate Inquiry into the Bill. These include:

• Inserting a broad definition of ‘arrangement in relation to work’ into the Bill, to capture and stop the myriad ways that employers may coerce migrant workers. This change ensures that employers cannot lawfully coerce workers to accept or agree to a broad range of exploitative conditions including work-related and non-work related activities (including arrangements in relation to unsafe housing, surrendering a passport and sexual favours).

• Ensuring that company directors and other third parties who are ‘accessories’ to unlawful behaviour can also be be added to the new Prohibited Employer list. This will now ensure that these individuals cannot evade accountability by simply closing the business and setting up a new similar company (corporate phoenixing).

THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS GROUND-BREAKING NEW VISA PROTECTIONS FOR EXPLOITED MIGRANT WORKERS 

The government has committed to introduce the robust new visa protections for migrant workers that we proposed in our Breaking the Silence report, in collaboration with Human Rights Law Centre and a broad coalition of community, union and business partners. These include a guaranteed protection against visa cancellation for migrant workers who bring labour claims, and a pilot short term visa to enable migrant workers to pursue labour claims at the end of their stay. 

The legislation introduced today contains a new discretionary protection against visa cancellation, which will require a decision-maker to take into account certain matters – such as a visa-holder's experience of workplace exploitation – before deciding whether to cancel their visa. During the Senate debate on the Bill, the government confirmed that this will complement future stronger non-discretionary protections that it will consultatively develop over the coming ‘weeks and months’. These protections, to be enacted through regulations, will establish that migrants pursuing labour claims and meeting certain conditions cannot have their visa cancelled.

In seeking to formalise this further commitment from the government during the Senate debate, Senator Nick McKim noted:

“In concluding my remarks on this legislation, I want to acknowledge the Human Rights Law Centre and also the Migrant Justice Institute. Both of those organisations not only provided really quality evidence to the Senate inquiry into the bill but also led work on the 2022 Breaking the silence report, which proposed whistleblower protections to enable migrant workers to address exploitation. That report was endorsed by a coalition of 40 trade unions, migrant rights academics and faith based organisations. That report was critical to helping the Greens understand the scope and seriousness of the problem, and it will continue to guide our consideration of migrant worker rights and protections in Australia more broadly. So I want to thank everyone involved for that invaluable contribution to the public discussion on migrant worker policy reform in Australia.”

We look forward to continuing to work with our powerful coalition, and with the government, to ensure that the implementation of these reforms creates strong new avenues for migrant workers to take action to address workplace exploitation. 

Ending the silence on migrant worker exploitation

CHOICE | Andy Kollmorgen

“Berg, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Technology Sydney and an author of the 2017 report, says the post-COVID influx of international students and backpackers means exploitation is likely back where it was before.“

I think that we as a society have come to expect low prices when it comes to things like fruit and vegetables and takeaway shops on sort of the lower end of the restaurant and hospitality scale. But the business model often relies on underpayment of temporary visa holders."

Over 70,000 people live in Australia illegally ... many are vulnerable to exploitation

ABC | Katri Uibu

“University of Technology Sydney academic Laurie Berg said: "I think employers routinely take advantage of that and it actually is a business model in some industries, where employers will seek out undocumented workers in order to avoid compliance with Australian labour law."